Stuck With You
by GwenOwenforever
Summary: The Torchwood team investages a series of rift openings in the Amazon. Gwen and Owen are pulled through the rift and are trapped in a strange place. Can the others get them out again?


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Torchwood! Or this idea to be honest. It was set as a challenge by **Madbean**. I hope it doesn't disappoint. One thing I have decided though, I've ignored the end of Countrycide so Gwen and Owen haven't slept together...yet. ;)

"So Tosh, where have you been picking up these rift openings?" Jack asked as the team sat around the conference table.

"Somewhere around the Amazon river. No exact location and the Amazon is huge." Tosh answered. "But they're only small and they're closed just as quick as they appear. Nothing comes through and nothing goes missing so it's nothing I think we need to worry about."

"Alright, keep an eye on them though. Let me know if anything changes." Jack told her.

"Is that everything, Jack?" Gwen asked as she checked her watch.

"I think so." He nodded. "Why?"

"I've got plans tonight." Gwen smiled. "Rhys is taking me out for dinner to, I quote, 'the poshest restaurant in Cardiff'."

"The local pizza place then." Owen said.

Gwen shot him a glare before turning to smile back at Jack.

"He gave me money to buy a nice dress to wear and he's been so secretive these past couple of days. So...I think..." She grinned excitedly.

"Do you think he's going to propose?" Jack gasped.

Gwen giggled and looked away shyly.

"He might. We've been together six years and we live together so..." She replied. "Maybe...he wants to take the next step."

"Fingers crossed." Jack smiled.

"Yeah, congratulations Gwen." Tosh said.

They all heard chuckling from the corner and turned to see Owen laughing and shaking his head.

"Something funny Owen?" Jack frowned.

"What – no – it's just – come on. You're all assuming he's going to propose. I mean, he could just be celebrating the fact that he found his favourite socks after losing them months ago or whatever." Owen answered. "Sorry if that ruins the moment, Newbie."

"My name's Gwen." She said through gritted teeth. "And Rhys wouldn't go all out like this to celebrate finding his favourite socks, unlike you maybe. What makes you think he's not going to propose?"

"I'm not saying he won't propose, I'm just making a point that maybe you shouldn't get your hopes up." He shrugged. "But I hope for his sake he is planning to propose. I'd hate to be him if he doesn't." He got up and went to leave the room. He turned in the doorway. "Sorry, just my opinion...Newbie."

Gwen glared at him as he left the room.

"Ignore him." Tosh sighed.

"Gladly." Gwen replied.

"Go home, Gwen. Get ready for your dinner." Jack smiled. "Have a good time and be sure to show us the ring tomorrow."

Gwen grinned as she got up and skipped out of the boardroom.

Owen watched her as she ran past him.

"Decided not to take my advice then?" He called.

"No, I'm not." She answered, turning to look at him. "You know what, I think you're jealous."

"Jealous of what exactly?" He asked.

"The fact that I'm in a happy relationship. The fact that I may be about to become Mrs Williams." She replied. "The fact that you're not even close to any of that."

Owen scoffed and shook his head.

"I don't think so." He chuckled. "Marriage isn't for me thanks. Being tied down to one woman...where's the fun in that? No, you can keep that to yourself, Newbie."

"Stop calling me that!" She snapped.

"Sorry, did you prefer Freckles?" He asked.

"You are so irritating." She growled.

"I may be." He nodded. "Yet you haven't been able to stop thinking about our little moment in the cold storage locker."

Her jaw dropped and she gasped as he smirked at her.

"I – of course – I – you -" She stammered. "Bastard."

Gwen turned on her heels and stormed out of the Hub. Owen watched her go in amusement.

"Alright, that was just a joke but...what do you know?" He said to himself.

She gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hands as she seethed over what Owen had said. He was wrong, of course he was wrong, and he had no right to bring that up. He knew it wasn't meant to happen and he'd initiated the kiss in fairness. Of course she hadn't thought of how his lips felt moving in perfect sync with hers. Or the way her blood felt like fire running through her veins when he locked his fingers in her hair. Of course she hadn't wondered if anything else would have happened if they hadn't just been about to be killed a psychotic cyberwoman. Though, why they would have been in a cold storage locker with her lying on top of him on a normal day, she didn't know. But...what would it have been like, if they had?

She shook her head out of her thoughts. No, she couldn't think about this. She wouldn't let Owen win.

Rhys was waiting for her when she entered the flat. He was wearing his best suit, she noted, and he'd also polished his shoes.

All thoughts of Owen flew out of her head as she smiled at her adorable boyfriend, soon to be fiancé...she hoped.

"Good evening lover." He smiled as he greeted her with a kiss.

"Look at you, looking all handsome." She replied.

"Thought I'd make an effort." He told her. "Now, go and take a shower, get changed into that beautiful dress and we can get on our way."

"Ok. I'll be right back." She giggled.

Once they reached the restaurant, they were shown to a table and Rhys held out her chair for her.

"Could we get a bottle of champaign please?" Rhys asked the waiter.

She raised her eyebrows as the waiter disappeared.

"Fancy restaurant, the dress, the suit, champaign. Have we got something to celebrate?" Gwen smiled.

"We might." He nodded secretively.

They were finishing their dessert when Rhys reached across the table and took her hand, looking deep into her eyes.

"This is it." She thought. "Oh Gwen, this is it."

"Gwen, I love you." He told her. "When I look at you I just...I think of how lucky I am that you agreed to go on that date with me and how lucky I am that you've stayed with me. You're gorgeous and you could have any bloke you wanted but you chose me, God knows why."

"Aaw Rhys." She smiled. "I chose you because you're sweet and kind and I love you. I don't want anyone else but you."

Rhys' smile grew and he squeezed her hand.

"There's something I've been wanting to say for a few days now." He continued. He took a deep breath and she felt her heart start to pound. "I...I've been offered the managers job at Harwoods."

"Oh, Rhys I – a job at Harwoods? That's...brilliant." Gwen smiled, hoping he wouldn't hear the disappointment in her voice. "I...I didn't know you wanted to switch companies."

"Yeah you do, I told you months ago. You helped me apply for it." He told her.

"Did I? Oh...oh yes, I remember." She nodded.

"Well, anyway, this is brilliant because it means more money. We can come out and do this more often. We can redecorate the flat like we wanted to – maybe even get a bigger place." He grinned. "Not right away obviously but we can save up."

"Yeah, that's great Rhys. I'm so proud of you." She said.

He laughed and leant across the table, capturing her lips in a kiss.

"How proud?" He asked.

"Let's go home and I'll show you." She answered.

Rhys grinned and signalled for the waiter. She watched him, sipping the last of her champaign and trying to smile though she felt like crying. Like she'd told Jack, they'd been together six years. Was Rhys ever going to propose? Did he not think about these things? Was he as serious about this relationship as she was?

She made an effort for him, pretending to be so excited and happy, but she just couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Later that night while Rhys was sleeping, she lay on her side facing away from him and let a few of her tears fall.

When she entered the Hub the next morning, Owen and Tosh were sat at their workstations and Jack was in his office. She walked silently to her computer, shrugging off her jacket to hang it up on the way.

"Hey Gwen. You ok?" Tosh asked.

"Yeah, fine." She mumbled.

"Romeo didn't propose last night, did he?" Owen said.

She looked away and cleared her throat.

"No...no he didn't." She answered.

"Then...what was it you went out to dinner for?" Tosh frowned.

"He's been offered a new job." Gwen replied.

"I did tell you not to get your hopes up." Owen pointed out.

"Oh shut up Owen. I've had enough of you this week." She snapped.

"Have you really?" He smirked.

"Yes." Gwen shouted. "You'd better button it before I lamp you one."

"What have I done wrong?" He asked innocently.

"Making stupid comments and – you know full well what you've done." She replied.

"We both know I'm not entirely to blame for that." He said.

"Alright you two, calm it." Jack shouted as he emerged from his office.

"Jack, I've got something on those rift openings." Tosh called. Jack walked over to her and stood behind her so he could see her screen. Gwen and Owen glared at each other before joining them. "The rift opened up again last night only it seems like it didn't close. This morning, reports of two people going missing were made. Apparently there was a group of wildlife experts out doing whatever it is they do, and they were supposed to be staying in the rainforest for the week. Two of their team mates, names of Maria Bennett and James Smith, went to find a clean water source but never came back. It could be connected."

"They could have just got lost." Owen shrugged.

"Local authorities have literally hunted high and low for them but they've just vanished. Not a single footprint was found." Tosh told him. "They tried tracking mobile signals but found none."

"So you think they went through the rift?" Jack asked, his expression thoughtful.

"Seems like the only logical explanation." Tosh replied.

"Ok." Jack nodded and turned to look up at where Ianto was standing by the coffee machine. "Ianto, get us all on a flight to South America. Pronto."

"You can't be serious Jack?" Owen said. "We're going all the way to South America, just because two geeks got lost in the rainforest?"

"Yeah Jack, I'm with Owen on this one." Gwen said. The three of them looked at her in surprise. "Yes, shocking. But seriously, you know how big that place is, they could have just got lost. How do we know the authorities weren't looking in all the wrong places?"

"Too much of a coincidence." Jack replied, shaking his head. "And what happened to you? You used to care about things like this, people going missing and stuff."

"She's just sour because her boyfriend doesn't want to marry her." Owen smirked. He stumbled as she delivered a powerful smack to the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry. It was just a joke. For God's sake."

"Owen, keep your mouth shut. Gwen, keep your hands to yourself." Jack ordered.

"She doesn't have to..." Owen said quietly. Jack jumped between them as Gwen went to hit him again. "Just another joke. Seriously, still not allowed to have a joke with my team mates?"

"Yes, you can have a joke. You just always pick the wrong time and your jokes are inappropriate." Tosh replied.

"Ok, back to what's important here." Jack interrupted. He turned to Gwen to aim his comments more to her. "Two people have gone missing here. Two people with families, friends, homes, pets. If they've gone missing because of the rift, it's our duty to find them again. Our job is to protect people from the rift and if we don't investigate this, we're not doing our job."

Gwen looked him in the eyes and nodded.

"You're right." She said. "We should be investigating this. I don't want to think that I've done nothing when I know I could have done something to help."

"Good, then we're going to South America. Tosh, is the rift closed now?" He asked.

She tapped at the keys on her keyboard and checked the readings.

"No, it's still open." She frowned slightly as she pressed more keys. "And growing but I still can't get a fix on a location. It seems to disappear and reappear in different places."

"Then we need to get there as soon as possible. See what you can do about keeping people away from there." He told her. He patted her shoulders and turned back to call up to Ianto. The Welshman was on his phone to the Cardiff airport at that minute. "You got anywhere with that flight yet?"

"Earliest I can get is tomorrow at ten o'clock in the morning." Ianto called back.

"That will have to do." Jack smiled.

"Ten o'clock in the morning? That means getting up at ridiculous o'clock." Owen moaned.

"I'm sure you'll get over it." Jack replied and walked into his office.

Owen sulked as he sat back down in his chair.

"What's up Owen? You upset because it means you can't go out tonight and get pissed and prey on the affections of some poor, innocent girl?" Gwen asked sarcastically. "That's a good thing to be honest, give the women of Cardiff a break."

"Jack, just how long are we staying there?" Owen asked.

"As long as it takes." Jack called back.

"Great. Stuck in some rainforest for God knows how long and the only women to keep me company are you and Tosh." Owen said to Gwen. "Still...if the other day was anything to go by...my guess is, it won't be as bad as I think."

"What do you mean?" Tosh frowned.

"Oh Gwen knows." Owen smirked. "Stuck in one place...the possibility of death."

"You've got a better chance with Ianto." Gwen said before turning and heading up to the boardroom.

She needed to call Rhys and tell him the news. She didn't quite know what to say to him as she left early this morning so she wouldn't have to say anything to him.

Making herself comfortable in one of the chairs and buying herself time, if she was being honest with herself, she pulled out her phone. Her finger hovered over the call button as she brought Rhys' number up. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the button and held the phone up to her ear. It took him a while to answer, making Gwen get her hopes up.

"Hey, sweetheart." Rhys' voice said. "Sorry it took so long, we're a bit busy at the minute. We're organising who's going to take over my old job before I leave next week. Plus, we're coming up with a back-up plan if we can't find someone which is bloody stressful, let me tell you. I'll be glad when I can come home to my good woman and relax."

"Who's this good woman then? Anyone I know?" Gwen asked.

"Aye, I'm pretty sure you know her. Sally, from the butchers? Just remind me, what time you're coming home tonight?" He laughed. "So, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, fine." She answered. "Listen, something's come up at work and I'm going to have to go away for a few days."

"Anywhere nice?" Rhys asked.

"South America." She told him.

"Bloody hell! When you said you were going away, I expected the furthest you were going to say was London. What are you going all the way out there for?" He replied.

"Some...work thing, it's complicated." Gwen said. "But I've got to leave tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Rhys repeated. "I don't suppose anything I say is going to stop you going is it?"

"I'm afraid not." She replied. "I'll see you later, yeah? I love you."

"Love you too." He said.

Gwen put her phone down on the table and sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder." She said to herself.

The next morning, they were all packing equipment they needed for the trip. Owen eyed Ianto suspiciously as the Welshman packed hammocks and camping gear into a box.

"What are you doing with that?" Owen asked.

"Well, unless you were planning to sleep on a muddy floor and to not eat anything, I'd say we needed them." Ianto answered.

"You mean, we're not staying in a hotel?" He demanded.

"Where's your sense of adventure Owen?" Gwen sighed as she walked past with the rest of the camping gear.

"I have a sense of adventure, ok? I just also happen to have a sense of hygiene. What about showers and...stuff?" Owen argued.

"I'm sure there'll be a nice waterfall or stream or something we can wash in." Ianto said, rolling his eyes.

"We?" Owen repeated. "I'm not sharing a shower or bath with anyone, thank you very much." He looked at Gwen and raised an eyebrow. "Well, maybe I'll let someone share it with me."

"In your dreams, Owen." Gwen sighed.

"Oh yes." He nodded. He stepped up beside her and whispered in her ear. "And I know you dream about it too."

Her eyes widened as he stepped back to smirk at her. Again, he intended it as a joke but it looked like he was right yet again. This trip was going to be interesting. Gwen swallowed and looked away nervously as he continued to stare at her. Very interesting indeed. He walked away and he thought he heard her let out a breath she'd been holding.

It was a long and tiring flight and they weren't even three-quarters of the way there yet. By the time they found the rough location of the rift openings, each of them had major jet lag and wanted to collapse onto a warm, comfortable bed. Instead, they were stuck with uncomfortable hammocks and noisy surroundings.

Ianto managed to make their little camp look fairly cozy and they all appreciated his efforts, apart from Owen obviously, who wouldn't stop moaning. It was raining, which was to be expected given the location, but Owen complained about it all the same. Ianto had luckily brought a couple of large tarpaulins to tie above them and create little shelters.

There was a little fire going in the middle as night fell and Ianto started to make them something to eat. Gwen sat fidgeting in her seat and when she looked around, she saw Tosh doing the same. They both looked at each other and nodded. As they stood up, Tosh grabbed a torch and hugged her jacket tighter around her. She linked arms with Gwen and they started to walk off into the trees.

"We're just popping to find a...spot." Gwen called over her shoulder.

They walked into the thicker parts but stayed close enough so that the flickering of the camp fire was still visible.

Tosh broke away and went one way as Gwen went another. Both were a little apprehensive about going to the loo in the open but they couldn't keep it in for days on end, that'd be stupid.

A few minutes later, Tosh walked back to the spot where they'd split up. She shone her torch in the direction Gwen had gone.

"Gwen, are you ok?" She called.

"Yeah." Gwen's voice shouted back. The heavens opened even more, drenching Tosh in seconds. "Look, you go back to camp, get under the shelter, I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" Tosh asked, shouting a little louder to be heard over the rain.

"Yeah." Gwen answered.

"Alright." Tosh replied and headed back to camp.

Minutes later, Gwen emerged from the trees and started to walk back to camp. She wished she'd thought to bring her torch too as she kept tripping over tree roots. The rain made her clothes heavy and her hair stuck to her face. She sighed as she thought of her warm flat where her dry clothes were.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from the side and a hand clamped over her mouth. She tried to scream but the hand muffled it into nothing.

"Sh, sh, don't scream." A voice whispered.

She squeezed her eyes shut as her back was pressed up against a tree. When her attacker seemed to be doing nothing, she opened her eyes a crack to look. She let out a little squeak as she looked straight into the eyes of Owen Harper. Her fright turned into anger and she tried to shove him off her.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed. He pressed his lips against hers and she froze, eyes wide open. For a few seconds, she didn't know what to do. Then it was as if her lips had a mind of their own as they responded to his. Her brain went into slow motion as her arms wound around his neck. Eventually, it seemed to catch up and she pushed him away. "Owen!"

"What? Come on Gwen, I know you've been thinking about it since the cold storage locker." He said.

"And what makes you think that?" She demanded.

"The fact that you've given yourself away every time I mention it and do I need to point out what just happened?" He replied. "What's your excuse for that one, Newbie?"

"I said stop calling me that." She spat. "And..." She sighed and looked away. "I have no excuse, alright? Nothing but the truth. The...the kiss in the cold storage locker...I...it..."

"It was good." He nodded. "Better than good, borderline great. There was so much I learned from that kiss too."

"Like?" She asked.

"Like that was the most exciting thing you've done in a while." He answered. "You kissed me so...desperately, it was so obvious."

Gwen scoffed and shook her head.

"I was not desperate." She told him.

"Oh really?" He leant in close, brushing his cheek against hers as he whispered in her ear. "You weren't the only one that could feel how turned on the other was. I could feel you, Gwen." She gasped as his hand ran up her thigh. "You were so warm...I could _feel_ you. I bet under those jeans, you were practically dripping. You've never felt that with Rhys, have you?" Gwen's protests turned to whimpers as he pressed himself closer to her and his hand disappeared inside her shirt, burning where it rested on her hip. The rain and the cold and their surroundings were long forgotten. Rhys had left her mind a long time ago. The only sounds they could hear were Gwen's ragged breaths. One of Owen's fingers dipped into her jeans at her hip, stroking the skin there. "You were so desperate to hold onto that feeling...and you've been so desperate to feel it again...the thought that's been swirling around your head...it's within your grasp, all you have to do is say yes and it's yours." Her eyes were closed and she nodded slightly before she could stop herself. "Is this want you want?"

"Y-yes." She breathed.

Owen growled in her ear before he moved his lips back to hers. Her fingers locked in his hair as she moulded her body into his. In a clash of tongues, Owen lifted her off the ground and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. She rocked her hips against his, drawing out another growl from his lips. Her back was pressed up so hard against the tree, she could feel every bump and the roughness of the bark through her jacket. She gasped as she rocked her hips again and Owen thrust his at the same time. It was all becoming too much and she needed more. Sensing this, Owen dropped her legs back onto the ground and hooked his finger through the belt loop on her jeans.

Jack's booming laughter startled them and they jumped apart. They looked in the direction it came from, panting heavily, but it seemed like the Captain was still in the camp.

Gwen took a few seconds as her mind caught up with what was happening. She looked up at Owen, her eyes wide, before pulling herself from beneath him. She quickly turned away and walked back to camp. The rain was icy cold against her inflamed skin and her mind was fuzzy.

"You've been gone a while." Tosh said as Gwen walked into the clearing.

"Yeah, I...got a bit lost on the way back." She lied.

"You should have called out, we would have come and found you." Tosh replied.

"It's alright." Owen's voice said from behind her. She refused to turn around and look at him as she sat down on a log. "She ran into me while I was out looking for a spot and I pointed her back again."

"And she trusted you to send her in the right direction?" Jack asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"As if I'd send her into the middle of nowhere in the dark." Owen said. "Especially after those two geeks disappeared out here."

"Will you stop calling them geeks please?" Tosh asked.

"Sorry, Tosh. Too close to home?" Owen laughed as he plonked himself down next to Gwen.

"Owen, leave her alone." Gwen said quietly.

"Sorry." He replied.

He sounded genuine for once and when Gwen looked up at him, she saw the sincerity in his eyes. She looked away again quickly and stared into the flames under the pot Ianto had boiling.

"Grub's up." Ianto called as he took the pot off the fire.

He spooned everyone out a portion of noodles and they sat silently as they ate, the sounds of the rainforest filling in the silence like music playing quietly in the background.

Gwen wound her noodles slowly around her fork, her brain still processing what had almost happened. Owen's hands had been like fire against her skin and his lips were even softer than she remembered. Everything she remembered about him was better than it was in her memory. She could feel his body heat radiating from him beside her and she was aware of every little movement he made.

She passed the rest of the evening in a daze, only just answering people when they spoke to her. It didn't help when she went over to her hammock and turned to see Owen watching her. There was a dark, predatory look in his eyes that made that pressure in her stomach build up again.

When the team put their heads down for the night, Gwen lay looking up at the stars. She could hear the gentle breathing of her team mates around her. Although she'd had a long day, sleep just wouldn't come as easily as it did for them. Her mind just kept running over her encounter with Owen over and over again.

She turned to look at the hammock across from hers and froze. The eyes of the occupant glittered in the dying light of the fire as they stared right back at her. She turned away quickly, scared of what she might do if she continued to look at Owen Harper any longer.

Eventually, she managed to slip into an uneasy sleep, but not before sneaking another look at him.

The next morning, she woke before any of the others. The rain had stopped for now but Gwen's clothes were still damp from last night. She quietly climbed out of her hammock and grabbed some dry clothes and a towel from her bag. Ianto had told them, while she was busy daydreaming but she'd still managed to hear, about a little waterfall he'd found that they could use to wash in.

She tried to remember the directions she'd vaguely heard and managed to find it in the end. She looked over her shoulder nervously, making sure no one was coming – mainly Owen. Gwen peeled off her clothes, leaving on her underwear as she still felt wary.

Testing the water with her toe, she took a deep breath of fresh air and waded into the little pool. The water wasn't warm but it wasn't too cold either, it was refreshing. The deepest part came to her knees and the water was crystal clear.

As she stood under the spray of the waterfall, she began to think of an excuse for her behaviour last night. Maybe she could blame it on her emotions. With the disappointment of Rhys not proposing and the stress of her new job and her constant bickering with Owen, she was left emotionally drained. She was so stressed, she needed something to rid herself of all that tension and Owen just happened to hand her a solution. Yeah, she could say that.

"Or you could just tell the truth and admit that everything Owen said was right." She sighed to herself. "Damn those magical lips of his..." No, she couldn't think of that. Last night had been too close and if she had have gone through with it, she would have regretted it after. "Or you might not have...no – shut up Gwen."

She sighed and shook her head. Great, now she was arguing with herself. If Rhys had just proposed, last night would never have happened. Her emotions wouldn't have been all over the place, she'd have just been happy. It was all his fault. Maybe she should just propose to him instead, women did that too, right? But then she knew how Rhys felt about things like that. He'd probably feel like a laughing stock in front of his mates. She'd just have to wait for him to do it and hope she never got into that situation again...for however long it took. Hopefully not another six years.

With another sigh, she took her 'shower' and waded back out to the edge. As she grabbed her towel, she checked the time on her phone. It was still early, the others wouldn't be up yet. She looked around and spotted a large, flat rock with the morning sun shining down on it, perfect for drying off on. Spreading her towel out on it, she climbed up and lay on her back, resting her eyes.

She must have dozed for a while without realizing because when she opened her eyes again, the sun had moved and a light breeze was blowing across.

The sound of rustling tree branches made her jump up quickly. Grabbing the towel, she just had time to cover herself up before Owen walked into the clearing.

"There you are, Jack's been going mental." Owen told her. "You're in a lot of -" He stopped as he realised she was clutching at her towel and staring at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. A smirk crept across his face and he took a step closer. "What were you doing?"

"Having a wash." She answered.

"Damn, and I missed it." He sighed. "Oh well, plenty of time for that. Anyway, I should probably let Jack know I've found you. Or...we can wait a while and then I tell him."

"Just go and tell Jack, will you?" She snapped.

"Aren't you coming?" Owen asked.

"When I've changed, yes." Gwen replied. She saw the look creep across his face and pointed back the way he came. "Go, Owen."

"Fine." He mumbled.

She watched him leave but she still didn't trust him. Grabbing her clean clothes, she hid behind some more rocks to get changed.

Jack was not pleased when she got back.

"What do you think you're doing going off on your own like that?" He demanded.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have left a note or whatever." She told him.

"Yeah, you should. I thought you'd disappeared like the others." Jack said. "What if the rift had taken you, huh? What if it did but we just assumed you'd gone to get clean water or take a shower? It might have been too late when we realised you were missing. You should know better Gwen."

"Alright Jack, give her a break." Owen said. "She knows what she did was wrong and she's back now, panic over."

"Yeah and to make sure she doesn't wander off again, Owen you never let her out of your sight. You stick to her like glue, you got that?" Jack demanded.

"What?" Owen and Gwen shouted at the same time.

"I am not having him follow me everywhere." Gwen argued.

"Oh thanks, Newbie." Owen said. "Honestly though Jack, don't you think that's a bit over the top?"

Jack kept his glare trained on Gwen.

"Until you learn that you can't just go wandering off anywhere without telling anybody, he stays with you." Jack ordered. "No arguments."

He turned and stalked off. Gwen sighed and folded her arms across her chest. When she looked over at Owen, he was grinning at her.

"Don't get any ideas." She muttered and walked away.

After packing up camp, they donned their backpacks and trekked further into the rainforest. Tosh held her PDA in her hands and used it to keep check of their location.

When they reached a certain spot, they stopped to take a breather.

"I've been tracking two places that the rift opening seems to appear most in. One in that direction." Tosh pointed to the left. "And the other in that direction." She pointed off to the right. "I suggest we investigate both."

"Alright." Jack nodded. "Gwen, Owen, you take the route to the west. Tosh, Ianto with me to the east. Meet back here before nightfall and keep in contact via the comms system. They should still work out here."

"Gwen, if you use your PDA, you can trace the rift energy and it should lead you in the right direction." Tosh told her.

Gwen grabbed her PDA from her bag and pressed some buttons.

"Ok. See you later." Gwen said and started to walk away. "You coming, Warden?"

"Think she means me." Owen said to the others. Jack rolled his eyes, knowing Gwen's comment was probably a dig at him. "I'll see you later."

"Remember, keep in constant touch over the comms." Jack called as Owen followed Gwen. Owen held his hand up, signalling he'd heard and understood, but didn't turn around. "And try not to kill each other." Jack turned to Tosh and Ianto. "Maybe I should have sent someone else with Gwen. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Well, too late now." Ianto told him.

Jack turned back and saw that Gwen and Owen had already disappeared through the trees.

Gwen kept walking ahead, unsure of what to say to Owen. If she brought up what happened last night, she'd hear no end of teasing. Yet if he spoke first, she knew he'd bring it up and wouldn't stop until she admitted something else or something else happened.

"The scanner is pointing this way." Gwen announced.

"But that's uphill." Owen complained. "Can't we just look somewhere else?"

"No. We're meant to be looking for this rift opening and the scanner says this way so that's where we're going." She replied. "Why would we look somewhere else when we know where it is?"

"Fine." Owen mumbled. "At least it's not raining."

"Owen, if you're going to moan all day you can button it." She said. She turned to look at him and he said nothing. "Thank you."

The hill started to get steeper and they were soon grabbing onto trees to pull themselves up.

"Can't we...take a...rest?" Owen panted.

Gwen checked her watch and nodded.

"Alright...we can...stop for a few...minutes." She gasped.

They found a fallen tree and sat down heavily on it. There were a few minutes of silence as they caught their breaths. Owen looked at Gwen out of the corner of his eye.

"That kiss last night..." He said.

Gwen knew it was coming sooner or later. She took a deep breath before turning to look at him.

"What about it?" She asked.

"That was...wow. Took me a long time to...get over it." He told her.

There was no point in lying, she knew that. He'd only get the truth out of her in the end.

"Yeah...it was...good." She nodded. "And, well, it took a long time for me too."

"Really?" He smirked.

"Yes, but we can't let it happen again." She replied.

"No? No, you're probably right. It would only lead to complications and it's not worth all that really." He lied.

"No." She agreed.

He looked around him and then back at her.

"But...if no one found out, we could...do it one last time, get it out of our system and then that's it. No more." He suggested.

Her eyes fell to his lips and before she realised it, she was shrugging her shoulders and leaning forward slightly.

"Well...I guess...if we're just getting it out of our system. Plus, if no one finds out and this is the last time, it should be ok." She said quietly.

Owen looked back at her, a slightly surprised expression on his face. He leant towards her and lifted a hand to cup her face. Her lips parted slightly and her eyes slid shut.

Just as their lips brushed, a crackling sound in their ears made them jump.

"Gwen, Owen, found anything yet?" Jack's voice asked.

Gwen turned her back on Owen quickly and pressed the button on her comms.

"Erm...yeah, we have a lead. We're following the trace, I think we might have a location." Gwen reported.

"I'd better get paid extra for this. I'm bloody heaving my lungs up here." Owen moaned.

"Shut up Owen, you've got your rest haven't you?" Gwen said.

"Is that Owen complaining?" Jack laughed.

"Yep. When isn't he? Anyway, you found anything?" Gwen asked.

"Not yet. Keep up the hard work." Jack answered. "And keep in touch."

Gwen cut him off and turned to Owen. There was an awkward silence between them as they wondered what to say to each other.

"We should...get going." Gwen mumbled.

"Yeah." Owen sighed.

He stood up and held his hand out to help her up. She accepted it but didn't make eye contact as she stood up. She stumbled and ended up pressed against his chest. A small gasp escaped her lips as she allowed herself to look up at him. It took all her inner strength to pull away. She grabbed her bag and pulled it on.

"Come on." She said.

She shot off quickly before he could say anything and he had to grab his own bag quickly and run to catch up with her. He stayed walking behind her, just watching as she checked her PDA and mumbled to herself.

The climb grew steeper still, slowing them down and testing their physical strength.

There was a little break in the trees up ahead and the ground seemed to flatten out. Gwen's eyes widened as she walked through the trees and stared straight down off the edge of a cliff. It was a sheer drop with a fast flowing river at the bottom and some sharp looking rocks. Owen stood beside her and whistled.

"That's a long way down." He told her.

"Yeah, that's...that's high..." She mumbled, turning her back on the drop. She looked down at her PDA then looked around. There was nowhere else for them to walk. Owen watched as she frowned and continued to look around her. Then an expression of realisation crossed her face and she turned to slowly look over the edge. "Oh God...it's down there."

"What is?" Owen asked.

"The Emerald City. What do you think, Owen?" She replied.

"Oh...well, there's got to be a way down." He said and looked for a route that could take them down.

"There isn't." She replied.

She appeared to be thinking of a solution and he waited to see if she found one. Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath before shrugging off her backpack.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"There's only one way we're getting down there." She answered.

"What – are you insane?" He demanded. "You can't jump down there."

"We need to get this sorted and this is the only way we're going to get down there to investigate." She told him as she put all her electrical equipment on top of her bag.

"You can't. You'll never survive a fall like that. There are rocks down there and that water's too fast, you'll be carried off. You're going to get yourself killed." Owen argued.

"There's a clear spot there." She said and pointed. "I'll just...aim for there. Listen, you can stay here if you want but I'm going." She took off her jacket and handed it to him. "Look after that, it cost me a fortune and it's my favourite."

Securing her gun in the waistband of her jeans, she took a few steps back and a deep calming breath.

"Gwen, no!" Owen shouted as she took a running jump off the edge. He ran to the edge and watched as she plummeted down, dangerously close to the rocks. His eyes clamped shut as he waited for the sound of her landing with a thud on one of them. When he heard a splash, he looked over the edge, frantically searching for her. Why hadn't she surfaced yet? "Alright...I'm going in."

He threw Gwen's jacket and his backpack with it, on the floor and jumped. There wasn't time to worry about his phone getting wet or other insignificant things. The rocks came speeding towards him and he threw his arms over his face, waiting for the inevitable.

Gwen struggled to drag herself up to the surface. The water was too quick for her and she couldn't fight against it. Panic set in and her heart began to beat frantically. Blood started to pound in her ears as she was starved of oxygen. Bringing her knees up, she kicked them out again in an attempt to reach the surface. All it achieved was her grazing her legs against the rocks. Her mouth opened in an automatic cry of pain causing her to swallow a mouthful of water. Her lungs burned and her vision grew red and blurred. The pounding in her ears grew louder. She thrashed around in a last attempt before darkness shrouded her.

Owen couldn't believe how lucky he was when he hit the water and not the rocks. Immediately, his arms and legs went into action, pumping furiously to reach the surface. His head broke the surface and he breathed in a lungful of air before the water pulled him under again. He managed to break through again and he looked around frantically for Gwen. When he couldn't see her anywhere on the surface, he dived under and let the water carry him with it. His eyes scanned through the murky water, desperately searching for any signs of her.

The sky darkened overhead and the water suddenly became chillingly cold. A flash of light lit up the sky but for some reason, he didn't think it was lightning. Something was happening. Something strange that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

He surfaced again to take another lungful of air and found that he could stand up. The water flowed slowly around his waist and he frowned as he looked around.

He'd been carried into a large cave. The only source of light was a small hole in the roof. A fizzing sound filled his ear and he received a little electric shock. He hissed in pain and grabbed his comms off his ear, throwing it onto the cave floor. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons. The screen stayed black and he cursed. There was no way of contacting anyone now.

Gwen. Where was she? If he'd been carried here, maybe she had too.

"Gwen?" He called. His voice echoed around the cave but he received no reply. He started to wade slowly through the water, trying to keep his steps as quiet as possible so he could hear the slightest of noises. "Gwen, talk to me babe." The water level soon began to drop. The further he went, the lower the water got. When it reached his knees, he saw a dark shape floating in the water ahead. "Oh shit." He shouted as he ran towards it. Gwen was lying, washed up in the shallow part of the water. Her eyes were closed and she didn't appear to be moving. He quickly knelt down beside her and checked her pulse. There was a weak heartbeat beneath his fingertips but she wasn't breathing. He began performing compressions, counting in his head. Taking a deep breath, he pinched her nose and pressed his mouth to hers, filling her lungs. "Come on Gwen, stay with me."

He repeated his actions, praying it would work. As he pressed his lips against hers once again, she shifted under him. He moved away quickly as she coughed and spluttered, water pouring from her mouth.

She rolled over onto her side, heaving in deep breaths of air. Her lungs burned as she continued to cough. After a few minutes, she rolled back onto her back and let her eyes flutter open.

"Wh-" Her throat felt raw as she tried to speak. She scrabbled to sit up and he quickly went to help her. His arms wrapped around her for support and she let herself relax into him. "Where...are...we?"

"I don't know." He answered. "Here, let's get out of this water." She didn't protest as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to a dry part of the cave. He sat her down and leant her against the wall. "Stay here ok, I'm going to go up and take a look around."

"Don't...don't be too long." She said before collapsing into another coughing fit. "This place...something's wrong and...I don't like it, it scares me."

"I'll be as quick as I can." He promised. Looking up at the hole in the roof, he calculated his climb up to it. He also checked his gun was still at his side, just in case of course. Once he'd climbed up out of the hole, he peered back in at Gwen. "I'll be right back, ok? I won't go too far so if you need me, shout and I'll be right back."

"Ok." She nodded.

Owen stood up and turned to look at his surroundings. It looked like they'd only been carried a mile or so from where they started but like Gwen had said, something was wrong.

He walked a little way ahead to a path, shrubs beaten down by something walking over it over and over again. It was eerily silent here whereas where they were only a few moments ago, the air was filled with birds chirping and the usual calls of animals in the rainforest.

Just down the path he spotted a backpack lying carelessly by a tree. As he drew near, he saw it had been torn apart, it's contents spilling onto the ground. He scooped up what remained of a wallet and found a drivers licence belonging to James Smith.

"James Smith?" Owen mumbled to himself. The name sounded familiar. Where had he heard it before? Then he remembered Tosh had mentioned that name when she spoke about the two missing people. He looked around for signs of James and...Maria? That's when he noticed the smell. A smell he knew from years of experience. The smell of rotting flesh. He closed his eyes as he slowly turned around. When he opened them again, his eyes fell on a pile of shredded cloth from what used to be a shirt. In the middle of the scraps of material was a pile of bones, flesh still stuck to them in clumps. "Oh shit. Oh fuck no."

He swallowed back bile as he knelt down to examine them. They were definitely human bones and whatever had ripped this person apart – he couldn't even tell if it was James or Maria, there was so little left – had been brutal. He hated to think of what could have ripped them apart like this.

Whatever it was, he knew it couldn't be anything that originated on Earth, at least not in their time. A large dinosaur maybe. But if that was the case, that would mean that they'd come through the rift, either back in time or to a whole other planet. A planet with breathable air, luckily.

He stood up and turned his back on the remains. He had to get back to Gwen and he had to protect her. She couldn't know the entire truth of what he'd found or she'd freak.

Suddenly, the bushes around him rustled. A huge, dark shadow sped past him through the trees. His eyes darted around and his hand gripped his gun at his side as he searched for the source. Another shadow whipped by behind him and the rustling was getting closer. Whatever it was out there, it was circling him. Just like it probably had the other two. He was the prey and the hunter was out hunting him.

He started to run back the way he came and he heard the sound of twigs snapping behind him as the hunter gave chase. A loud roar sounded and he sped up.

As he neared the cave, he whipped around and fired bullets towards it. He faltered as a huge dinosaur-type creature came lurching towards him before regaining his focus and firing again. The bullet sank into it's side and it let out a roar of pain. It turned and disappeared back into the forest.

He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon. Ok, they hadn't gone back in time but they'd definitely come through the rift. The creature had looked very similar to a Tyrannosaurus-Rex apart from the fact that it seemed to have a third eye in the middle of it's forehead.

"Owen?" Gwen's voice called from below him.

He turned and dropped himself back into the cave. Gwen was looking back at him, her eyes wide as she hugged her knees tight to her chest.

"It's ok." He reassured her.

"What happened? What went on up there? I heard a...roar and a gun. What's going on? Where are we?" She demanded.

"Well, I know what happened to James Smith and Maria Bennett, and I know what's happened to us." He told her. "We've...come through the rift but...I have no idea where to." He saw the panic on her face and he knelt down to wrap his arms around her. "But I do know, I'm going to keep you safe. We'll be fine, I promise."

"Can we just – couldn't we swim back out through the rift again?" She asked as tears formed in her eyes.

"As soon as we get out of this cave, the current will be too strong for us and we'll just get carried back here again." He answered.

"Jack? How will he know we're here? Will he be able to get us out?" She sobbed.

"I don't know." He replied honestly.

She clung onto him as she cried into his already soaked shirt. She'd never see Rhys again and he'd never know what happened to her. He'd be given some made up story, thought up by Torchwood. Her mum and dad...they'd never know either. She hadn't visited them for such a long time and the need to see them started to grow in her stomach.

After a while, her sobs quietened and she pulled away to look at him.

"Owen, tell me honestly. What's out there? Are we going to survive this?" She asked.

He held her face in his hand and looked into her eyes.

"Don't worry about what's up there, I can deal with that, ok? And yes, we are going to survive. I'll look after you I promise." Owen reassured her. "If Jack and the others find us, they will find us alive. You just stay calm for me, ok? We'll make it through this."

She nodded and gave him a small smile.

A shiver went up her spine and her teeth started to chatter.

"I'm cold." She whispered.

"It's because you're wet. Here, take this." He said, taking off his jacket to drape it around her shoulders.

"Thanks." She said. "And thanks for erm...you know."

She gestured back towards the pool of water and he understood what she meant.

"I wasn't about to let you die, I'm not that much of a twat." He told her. "But let me tell you, that wasn't how I imagined our next kiss." There was an awkward silence as they looked at each other. He quickly looked away and up at the hole. "You still got your gun?" She nodded and handed it to him. "Alright, I'll go up and get us some firewood and see if there's anything edible around here."

"Wait." She called as he started to climb out of the hole. "Maria and James...what happened to them? Are they still alive out there?"

Owen looked away and said nothing as he pulled himself out of the hole. She took a deep shaking breath and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall.

The cave was huge and intimidating without Owen there. There were dark shadows everywhere and she was sure there were creatures lurking in them, watching her and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. It was nonsense of course and she started to feel like a child afraid of the shadows under their bed. She could hear the water lapping at the rocks and there was a constant dripping somewhere else. She hugged her knees tighter to her chest and pulled Owen's jacket around her. If she closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, she could pretend he was with her and she felt safer.

A few minutes later, tree branches and small logs were thrown into the hole and something soft was thrown on top. A few large leaves floated down and landed on the pile. Owen followed soon after and he started to organise the wood into a pile.

"We'll soon have this place nice and warm." He told her. "You should come closer so you can dry off when it gets going." She shuffled towards him to sit against the wall closer to where he was building the fire. Her leg started to hurt and she winced. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah...just grazed my leg." She told him.

"Let me take a look." He said. She rolled up her trouser leg and he gently held the back of her leg so he could examine it. A small gasp escaped her lips as he absent-mindedly shifted his hand a little higher, but he didn't seem to hear. "No, just a graze. You'll be fine."

He turned back to building the fire and she let out a long breath as she dropped her trouser leg.

"What's that?" She asked, pointing to the other thing Owen had thrown down.

"No idea." He answered. "It looks a bit like a chicken so I thought it'd be good to eat."

Gwen wrinkled her nose as she looked at the dead creature on the floor. It did look like a chicken but it was slightly bigger and it's eyes bulged out like a frogs. At the end of it's wings, were little claw-like things.

"Looks...great." Gwen nodded.

"Don't worry Gwen, it'll taste great when I'm done with it." He smiled.

"It's Gwen now is it?" She laughed. "Not Newbie? Or Freckles?"

"Well...it's getting a bit old now." He shrugged. He rubbed some sticks together to cause a spark. Soon the wood started to burn slowly. "There we go. When that gets going, I'll stick our little friend on." He sat back next to her and watched the flames start to grow. "How are you feeling now?"

"My throat and my chest are still a little sore." She told him. Owen found it hard not to glance down to where she was rubbing at her chest but he forced himself to stay focused. "And I couldn't half do with a drink."

"Hang on, I should still have..." He reached around Gwen to look in the inside pocket of his jacket. Her heart started to pound as it brought him face to face and he was pressed against her. His body heat was welcoming and memories of the night before flooded back. Owen seemed to be thinking the same thing as he stopped searching and looked straight into her eyes. They dropped to her lips and he swallowed before looking away quickly. "Erm...here you go."

He pulled his water bottle out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She smiled. He shifted over to the fire and started to prepare the chicken creature before he put it on the fire. "Why are you being so nice to me? You're not usually this nice. Am I only seconds away from hearing a sarcastic comment or having another argument?"

"I just think, there's no point in arguing any more, there's no fun in it any more. We're going to be stuck here for God knows how long, why make it worse for ourselves by being at each other's throats?" He replied. "Besides...you're not so bad really."

"Oh thanks." She laughed. "Well, you're not so bad yourself."

He chuckled as he plucked the feathers from their meal.

Jack, Toshiko and Ianto trekked through the trees, pushing tree branches out of their way.

"Haven't heard from Gwen and Owen in a while." Jack said quietly to himself.

"Maybe they're investigating their lead." Ianto suggested.

"But they should have reported something by now." He replied and tapped the button on his comms. "Gwen? Owen? Got anything to report?"

There was nothing but the sound of static on the other end causing him to start worrying.

"They could just be out of range." Tosh shrugged. "It can happen, especially out here."

"Yeah." Jack nodded. He looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was starting to set. "Look, we're getting nothing here, let's go back to where we arranged to meet. They could be waiting there for us already."

They turned and started to walk back in the direction they came from. The uneasy feeling in the pit of Jack's stomach wouldn't go away.

When they reached the arranged spot and found no trace of the other two, Jack made his mind up.

"Alright, the trace Owen and Gwen were following, we're following it too. We're going after them." He told them. "Tosh, lead the way."

Toshiko nodded and held the scanner in front of her as they headed in the direction their two team mates had gone.

Gwen sat back with a contented sigh after devouring her portion of the chicken creature. It wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be and once she got over how it looked, she started to enjoy it.

"You were right." She said as Owen shifted next to her. "That was good. You're not a bad cook, you."

"Thank you." He smiled.

She smiled and looked up out of the hole.

"It's night time." She commented. "And it's still bloody cold."

Her clothes were still damp and uncomfortable and they'd started to itch. If she had dry clothes, she'd warm up a lot quicker.

"Here, pass me my jacket." He said.

"Oh some gentleman." She replied as she took it off and gave it to him. "Taking your jacket back off a freezing woman."

"No, I'm not – oh just, hang on." He said as he put his jacket on. "Alright, sit on my knee."

"Excuse me?" She demanded.

"Sit on my knee. Look, do you want to get warm or not?" He asked. Gwen sighed and moved to sit in his lap. Owen pulled her against his chest and wrapped the jacket around them both. "There, see?"

She immediately started to feel better. Their shared body heat soon started to warm her up.

"Yeah, better." She nodded.

"You know...I heard you warm up faster if you...take your clothes off." He said.

"Owen, I'm not taking my clothes off." She replied. "We're fine as we are."

"Yeah, I was just saying...that's what I heard." He shrugged.

"Hmm." She mumbled. "Hey, what did you do with my jacket?"

"I might have dropped it." He said. She pulled back slightly to glare at him. "What? You'd just jumped off a cliff into a river. I had to jump in after you, I thought you might have drowned – which you almost did. To be fair, I had more important things to worry about than a jacket."

"That jacket cost me a fortune." She argued. "If we ever get out of here, you'd better get it back."

"If I can't find it, I'll personally buy you a new one." He sighed.

Satisfied with his reply, she settled back against his chest. The sound of his heartbeat beneath her ear and the warmth started to make her sleepy. Her eyelids started to droop and she yawned.

"Oh I'm tired." She said quietly.

"Yeah, me too." He nodded. Looking around the cave, he spotted two little areas at either end. Each one was surrounded by a wall meaning they'd both have some privacy. "Look, we've each got a little room kind of thing we can sleep in. You take my jacket and keep yourself warm."

"But what about you?" She asked as they stood up. "You'll be freezing your arse off."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." He told her. "Here." He passed her his jacket. "You look exhausted, go and get some sleep. Goodnight Gwen."

"Goodnight Owen and thanks again." She said gratefully.

He nodded and watched her disappear into one of the little areas. Before he left for the other one, he threw some more wood on the fire to keep it burning through the night. Hopefully, the heat would reach them both and keep them warm. He put his and Gwen's guns on a nearby rock for easy access, just in case of an emergency.

Glancing one last time in the direction Gwen had gone, he turned and went into his own part of the cave.

"That's Gwen's jacket." Tosh said as they reached the top of a cliff. "And her phone and backpack too."

The moonlight lit up the clearing, casting it's silvery light over the area. Jack knelt down and picked up the abandoned jacket. He looked around for more evidence.

"Where the hell are they?" He asked.

"The rift opening, it's close by." Tosh told him. She looked around then down over the edge. It was too dark for her to see the bottom but she could hear rushing water below them. She checked the readings on her PDA then glanced over the edge again. "Oh no."

"What?" Jack demanded as he stood up. "Toshiko, what do you know?"

"I think I've worked out where they went." She answered, panic in her voice. "But I hope to God I'm wrong."

"Tosh, where are they?" He asked, stepping up to stand in front of her.

"The trace I'm getting says the rift opening is...down there." She stated. Jack's expression changed from impatient to dread as he caught on to what she was saying. "My guess is...they found it too and...wanted to investigate so...they..."

Jack walked to the edge and dropped to his knees.

"I can't see anything." He shouted. "It's too dark."

"We've got no choice but to wait until morning." Ianto said as Jack started to pound the ground with his fists. "But...I'm afraid of what we'll find."

Jack stood up quickly and spun around, pointing at Ianto. His eyes blazed with fury, Ianto had never seen him so angry.

"Don't you dare say it. Don't even think it. We can't be sure that they went down there. Tomorrow morning, we will look for them and we will find them. Alive. You got that?" He shouted.

"Yes, sir." Ianto nodded.

"Good. Now set up camp. You two get a good nights rest, can't have you slacking tomorrow." He ordered.

"What about you?" Tosh asked.

"I don't need sleep." Jack answered. "I'll make a head start with the search."

He grabbed a torch and disappeared back through the trees. Tosh and Ianto shared a sad smile before they set about making a camp for the night.

As Gwen lay on the hard floor with Owen's jacket over her, she listened to the crackling of the fire and the sound of Owen shuffling around. Though she was exhausted, she couldn't get to sleep. The thought of being alone in a cave with Owen, it stirred up feelings she'd experienced last night. She closed her eyes as she remembered his hands burning through her skin, the way her heart pounded as his lips responded passionately with hers. The pressure in the pit of her stomach was becoming harder to bear and she shifted uncomfortably. Now she'd never get any sleep. There was only one solution.

She sat up and listened to hear if Owen was still awake. When she heard him still shuffling around, she stood up and walked as quietly as she could towards where he was meant to be sleeping.

Owen looked up at her in surprise as she stood in the gap, leaning against the wall. The glow of the fire in the main area cast her in a flickering orange light. Her eyes had darkened and there was a predatory look on her face.

"I've just remembered something." She said.

"What's that?" He asked as he sat up.

She walked over to him and knelt down at his side.

"We never had that last kiss." She answered. "That kiss to...get it all out of our system?"

"Oh yes." He nodded. "I remember."

He shifted closer to her as they stared into each other's eyes.

"It seems a shame we didn't, doesn't it?" She told him.

"Yeah." He replied.

"And...if that other kiss was anything to go by...it would have been pretty good." She said, looking down at her hands in her lap. Owen nodded quickly and moved even closer until their knees touched. "It's a shame we kept getting interrupted. But...we're all alone...no one could interrupt us here."

"I guess not." He agreed.

"If you still want to...we still could." She shrugged. "Have that one last kiss. One kiss, then no more."

"No more." He nodded. "That would be it. After this kiss...no more."

Gwen's eyes met his once again. A few seconds passed before she flew at him, her arms locking around his neck. He crushed her tightly against his chest as their lips met in a lustful kiss. They were soon gasping for air but neither could bring themselves to pull away. His tongue invaded her mouth as she straddled his lap. His lips moved to her neck and he grazed his teeth over her skin before running his tongue over it. She let her head fall back, granting him more access.

"I still...don't think...it's all out...of my system...yet." She breathed between gasps.

"No." He mumbled against her skin.

He kissed and bit down her neck to the skin not covered by her shirt. His hands gripped the bottom of her shirt and he broke away to pull it over her head. Once he'd discarded it, Gwen held his face in her hands and they stared at each other hungrily, both breathing heavily. Owen's hand moved to the clasp on her bra and he heard her sharp intake of breath. Her eyes widened as her heart pounded nervously. He didn't move, waiting to see if she wanted to back out. He didn't want to force her into anything. A few moments later, her hand reached around to join his and she nodded her head slightly. He waited a moment longer, looking for any signs of hesitation in her eyes. She moved his fingers and forced him to undo the clasp. He gasped as she let the garment fall, revealing herself to him. She smirked as his eyes seemed to be glued to her chest. It was her turn to gasp as he quickly and expertly lowered her to the floor, covering his body with hers. A loud moan escaped her lips as Owen's lips and teeth attacked every inch of her newly revealed skin.

"Do you think they're ok?" Tosh asked Ianto as they sat in their new camp. "I don't mean physically, I mean...well, you know what they're like when they're together. They're always at each other's throats."

"I'm sure they won't have killed each other." Ianto smiled. "You never know, this experience might make them come together. It could bring them closer."

"Maybe." Tosh nodded. "The Hub would be very quiet without them arguing all the time."

"Peace at last." Ianto smiled.

"We are going to find them aren't we?" Tosh asked.

"Of course we are." Ianto replied. "They'll be fine, just like Jack said."

He was trying to reassure himself as well as Toshiko and he hoped his words sounded more confident to her than they did to him in his head.

She saw the need to be comforted reflected in his eyes too and put her arm around him. They held each other in silence, waiting for Jack to return, hopefully with the others.

Various pieces of clothing were scattered across the cave floor. Gasps and moans echoed through, overheard by no one but the sources. Nails dug into flesh as hips moved in sync and tongues battled for dominance.

With one last cry, Gwen's body shook and her eyes rolled back in her head. Owen followed seconds later and he collapsed on top of her. They lay, bodies still entwined as they caught their breaths.

Owen built up enough strength to roll off her and onto his back onto the cold floor. Gwen sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Wow...that was..." Owen said.

"Interesting." Gwen finished.

"Yeah, interesting." He nodded. "But...it was good, wasn't it?"

"Oh it was good." She smiled. "It was very good."

"I've never...I haven't...finished...like that in a while." He admitted.

"No, no me neither." She replied quietly.

"But as we said, we'd only get it out of our system and then we'd forget all about it." He said. Gwen nodded and silence fell between them. "It's a shame though...to waste something so good."

"It is a shame." She agreed. "And we don't want to be wasteful people – especially in our circumstances." Gwen turned her head to look down at him and giggled. He laughed as he pulled her back down and rolled onto his side to look at her. Her fingers locked into his hair and she pulled his lips down to hers. She pulled away slightly and looked into his eyes. "But only while we're here."

"I agree." He nodded.

"Which could be a very long time." She added.

"I'm sure we can learn to live with that." He told her and began to nibble her ear.

She giggled as she wrapped her arms around him.

"If only Jack could see us now." She laughed.

"I'd rather he didn't." Owen said.

"I mean, he's always getting on at us, telling us to stop arguing and just get along. What would he say if he saw us now?" She explained.

"He'd be shocked to say the least. Then he'd probably ask to join in." He replied.

"You are terrible." She laughed.

"Yeah but you know it's true." He said.

"Knowing Jack, it probably is." She nodded. Now her needs had been satisfied, she started to grow tired again. "Alright, get off me, I need some sleep."

"You're not going. You can sleep here with me." He told her, keeping a tight grip on her.

"Owen, do you think either of us are going to get any sleep if I stay here?" She asked.

"Good point." He said. "But don't bother getting dressed."

"I'll be cold." She argued as she stood up.

"Yes, but our clothes are still damp. You'll be uncomfortable and you'll catch your death if you put them back on." He told her as he sat up. "I'll lay them out by the fire in the morning and try and get them dry."

"Alright well...goodnight." She shrugged.

"Night." He replied. "Don't be scared to come back in here with me if you get frightened or cold."

"I won't." She smirked and left.

Owen peered out to watch her go and wolf whistled.

"Look at that ass go." He called.

She slowed down her walk and exaggerated the movement of her hips. She looked back over her shoulder and winked before laughing and shaking her head.

"Goodnight Owen." She called back as she walked off again.

Jack came back to camp the next morning. He shook Tosh and Ianto awake and went to grab Tosh's PDA.

"Jack, did you find them? Where are they?" Tosh asked as she got up quickly.

"I haven't found them yet. I searched all night but still no trace." He told them. "I'm starting to think Tosh was right. Now get up."

He walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The rocks below were empty and he felt some of his panic disappear. Ianto joined him at the edge and looked over.

"Do we follow them?" He asked.

"No. There's no guarantee you'll have the same luck as them." Jack told him. "And even if you did, there's no telling where that water could drag you. I'm not having another missing person on my conscience."

"It's not your fault Jack." Ianto replied gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I should never have sent them here. This should have been me, not them." Jack said through gritted teeth. He turned and threw the PDA to Tosh. She caught it in time. "Can you get a trace on their comms or Owen's phone?"

"I can try." She nodded.

"Good. Get to it." He said.

Ianto took a few minutes to look at Jack as the Captain continued to scan the water below. His usual calm and composed image had disappeared and now he just looked worried. For the first time ever since Ianto had met him, he looked tired and old. He knew it was bad if Jack wasn't being his usual self.

"Jack." Ianto said. "Maybe you should rest."

"I'm not resting until we find them." Jack argued. "We _will _find them."

It sounded to Ianto as if Jack was saying the last part more to himself. Ianto looked away sadly and started to tidy away their camp. He wanted to find his friends and he wanted them to be ok, but with every passing second he knew the chances of that were getting slimmer.

Gwen slowly felt herself wake up from one of the best nights sleep she'd had in a while. She frowned as she felt cold, hard floor underneath her. What happened to the hammock? And why was she so cold? Then she remembered lips roaming her body and hands tearing at her jeans. Owen Harper's hands. Her eyes snapped open as she remembered everything.

She looked down and found Owen's jacket draped over her. When she sat herself up and stretched, her neck and back ached from sleeping on a hard floor all night. She could hear footsteps and the sound of the fire roaring up as if more logs had been thrown on it.

Suddenly feeling shy, she put Owen's jacket on and fastened it, then tiptoed out to the main part of the cave.

Owen smiled at her as she emerged from the shadows. He'd pulled on his boxers and had laid the rest of their clothes out to dry.

"Good morning." He said.

"Hey." She replied shyly. "Sleep well?"

"I slept great actually." Owen answered. "You?"

"Yeah, me too." She nodded. She started to feel self-conscious as his eyes ran over her. "What?"

Gwen looked down at herself, looking for something wrong. When she looked back up, she jumped as she came face to face with Owen. He'd walked silently over to her without her realising. He was looking down at her hungrily.

"I was just thinking how good you look in just my jacket." He smirked. She blushed and looked away, tugging the jacket to try and cover more of herself. "Gwen, I think it's a bit late to be shy. I have seen all there is to see."

She couldn't help but giggle as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. Her stomach growled as she pulled away.

"I am starving." She told him.

"It's a good job I went out again this morning and caught another one of those chicken things." He replied and quickly walked back over to check it. "I think it's done."

"You went out there? With no clothes on?" She asked.

"No one could see me." He shrugged.

"Fair point." She said as she went to sit by the fire. "You have been busy this morning. What else have you done?"

"Well, while I was out I found a stream we could use for clean water – which I have filled the water bottle with. I stored up on firewood so we don't have to keep popping out every ten minutes." He answered and pointed to the side. She looked over to see a pile of logs waiting to be used. "And I decided that we could use the little pool in here to wash."

He grabbed their breakfast off the fire with a sharp stick and put it on a large leaf like he had done the night before. The leaves were bigger than the average dinner plate and were quite thick too. They had nothing else to use so they'd just have to make do.

"Thanks." She said as he handed her her portion. "You know what, I could do with a nice mug of tea. Or coffee. Ianto's coffee. And a nice hot bath with some bubble bath and scented candles. My back is killing, it'd be nice to relax."

"I'm sorry but you'll just have to make do with cold water and the smell of damp rocks." He replied.

"Yeah..." Gwen sighed. A strong sense of homesickness hit her and she started to pick at her food. "Do you think we'll ever go home?"

"Jack and Ianto and Tosh are going to be out there looking for us. They'll find your stuff – hey, they'll find your jacket." He told her. She smiled down at the floor as he continued. "Tosh will do some brainy thing on that PDA of hers, you know what she's like, and they will find out what happened to us."

"But will they be able to bring us back? Will they get us home again?" She asked.

Owen saw the desperation in her eyes and he moved to sit beside her so he could wrap his arms around her. In truth, he knew there was a very slim chance of them ever getting back through the rift but he couldn't tell her that. He didn't want to upset her more than she already was.

"I'm sure they'll be working something out right this minute." He answered.

"Jack, I can't get a signal on comms or Owen's phone." Tosh announced.

"Do you think it's the rift interfering or water damage?" Jack asked.

"The rift doesn't usually interfere with these things. Not unless they've gone through it, then maybe it would." She answered.

"So you think they might have gone through the rift?" Jack enquired.

"I can't be sure but it's a possibility." She nodded. "The rift opening seems to be down there in the water. If Gwen and Owen went into the water, it could have carried them through the rift. But like I said, I can't be certain that that is what happened."

"Then they could just swim back upstream." Ianto frowned.

"They couldn't." Jack replied. "They'd be swimming against the current and that current is too strong. Even if they did manage it, there's no guarantee that the rift would bring them back here. There's millions of rift openings on Earth and on other planets and in different times and dimensions. They could end up anywhere."

"But surely they should try. I mean, there's still a chance of them getting back through to here isn't there?" Ianto said.

"Yeah, there's a chance." Jack nodded.

"We don't even know if they have gone through the rift." Tosh reminded him.

"Then we need to find out." Jack replied. "Erm...Ianto, did you bring your PDA too?"

"Yes." The Welshman nodded and pulled it out of his backpack.

Jack took it from him and turned it on.

"Right, Tosh link up to it, you're going to track the signal and tell me what happens." Jack told her.

"You're not going down there are you?" She asked.

"No, but this is. Ok, I need something that's going to be water tight." He said.

"I have Tupperware and some tape." Ianto suggested. "The Tupperware was for food so it's pretty air tight, and the tape...well, you never know when you might need tape. We could put it in there and seal it with the tape just to make sure the water doesn't get in."

"Ianto, you're a genius." Jack grinned.

"I try." He shrugged modestly.

They quickly did as Ianto had suggested, the Tupperware tub ending up twice it's original size due to the amount of tape wrapped around it. Jack walked to the edge and held it out.

"Tosh, you ready?" He asked. She nodded, her eyes fixed on her PDA. "Ok, here goes."

He dropped it and watched as it fell straight down into the water. As soon as he heard the splash, he turned and ran over to Tosh's side.

"It's going...it's going..." She said. "It's gone – it disappeared. At the exact spot where the rift opening is. Oh no – Jack – the rift, it's closed."

"What?" Jack demanded.

"It's just closed itself – there's no opening, in either of the spots we're investigating. There isn't one anywhere." She said quickly. "Oh my God, there's no way of getting them back."

"No!" Jack bellowed. "This can't be happening. No, no, no!"

He kicked at small rocks and pebbles, sending them flying over the edge. Ianto watched as he stormed off into the rainforest, tearing branches and twigs from trees and throwing them as hard as he could. They heard his screams of pure rage disappearing deeper into the forest. Tosh looked at Ianto, tears glistening in her eyes.

"We're never going to get them back." She whispered. Ianto walked over and pulled her into a hug. She shook with tears and he fought back his own and tried to stay strong for her. "We've failed them Ianto."

Gwen slipped out of Owen's jacket and placed it on a rock as she stepped into the little pool. She'd asked him to give her some time alone to process her thoughts and to calm herself down. He'd left to gather more supplies, taking one of the guns with him. Gwen didn't want to think about the creatures he could be facing up there. If he needed a gun, it wasn't going to be good.

There was a rock in the centre and she waded over to sit on it. As she dangled her legs into the water, she held her face in her hands and took deep breaths. Owen was trying hard to make this easy for her, he really was, but he couldn't erase the deep sense of fear she had. Fear of not making it out of this. Fear of her friends giving up on them and forgetting all about them. Fear of being separated from Owen. She couldn't do this without him, she needed him to tell her everything was going to be ok and to look after her.

Taking one last deep breath, she pushed all thoughts out of her mind and slipped back into the pool. She started to wash herself as best as she could. She'd give anything right now for a bar of soap and some shampoo.

Once she'd finished, she moved to the deeper part and started swimming lengths. There was a dull ache in her thighs and she smiled as her thoughts turned back to the event that caused it. Last night had been amazing. Her whole body had felt like it was on fire under Owen's caressing hands. He'd found her spots so quickly and he knew just which buttons to press to send her wild. When she fell over the edge, she thought she was going to explode. Her heart started to pound just thinking about it and she wondered how long Owen was going to be.

She started to climb out and felt something brush against her leg. Frowning slightly, she looked down to see what it was. A Tupperware tub wrapped in tape floated next to her and she could see something inside it. It wasn't something either of them had brought with them.

"Owen!" She shouted urgently as she jumped out. "Owen!"

She heard him drop down behind her and start to run towards her.

"Gwen, what is it?" He asked quickly. When he reached her side, she pointed down to the tub and he followed her gaze. He grabbed it out of the pool and tore the tape from around it. "There's a PDA inside, it's one of ours."

"They sent it through." Gwen said excitedly. "They sent it through to us. Owen, they know what happened." Owen took the PDA out of the box and read the readings. He wasn't Tosh but he knew what those readings meant. It wasn't good. "But why did they send it through? Are they trying to tell us that the rift opening is growing and it's getting nearer so we can get out? Or has it moved?"

Owen couldn't bear to ruin her happiness. She sounded so excited at the prospect of returning home, he couldn't bring himself to tell her the truth.

"Something like that, yeah." He mumbled.

He hid the screen from her as he turned to face her.

"Well, what does it say?" She asked.

"It's...growing – but slowly, very slowly. It'll take time to reach us. A few days maybe, or a few weeks, maybe months." He lied. "I'll keep hold of it so I can monitor it."

She grinned and threw her arms around his neck, peppering his face in kisses.

"I don't care how long it takes, we're going home." She laughed.

He peeled himself away and smiled at her.

"I'll be right back." He told her and turned to walk back over to the fire. He put the PDA in his jeans pocket and she frowned slightly. "For safe keeping."

"Oh." She replied.

"The clothes are dry if you're cold." He said. "I'm just going out...to fetch some more supplies."

He shoved his jeans and shirt back on before disappearing out of the hole. Gwen watched him go suspiciously.

Owen walked a little distance away before sitting down on a log and staring back at the hole. He hated getting her hopes up like he'd just done but he still couldn't tell her the truth. Maybe if she saw a little light at the end of the tunnel, she'd be able to relax a bit more. He was doing this to protect her and if she ever found out the truth, hopefully she'd see that.

After a while, he stood up and entered the cave once again. Gwen had dressed and was sitting near the fire. She frowned up at him as sat he beside her.

"I thought you were getting supplies." She said.

"I was...but..." A raindrop fell through the hole and he pointed at the sky. "It's starting to rain so I thought I'd leave it. We've got plenty of things in here now anyway."

More raindrops landed inside the cave, creating a puddle under the hole. Soon the rain was lashing down and they could hear the wind howling above them. The pool inside the cave began to creep higher and higher, flooding the area Gwen had slept in.

"Looks like you'll be sleeping with me tonight." Owen told her.

"Oh, I was planning to." She breathed as she leant towards him.

He smirked as he leant in and ran his nose along her jaw line.

A bright flash of lightning flared outside, lighting up the whole cave. Thunder crashed shortly after, the vibrations causing ripples in the water. Gwen squealed and jumped on him. Burying her face in his chest, she squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him tightly.

"You're not afraid of a bit of thunder and lightning are you?" He laughed.

"Usually...no. But when I'm in the middle of nowhere and I have no idea where the hell I am, I get...a little scared." She answered. "I just feel...a little vulnerable."

"A vulnerable woman...needs her mind taking off something...that's usually Owen Harper's cue." He grinned. "So...hey there. Can I buy you a drink?"

Gwen giggled as she sat up to look at him.

"I wish I had a drink right now." She sighed. "A big, strong one."

"Yeah, me too." He nodded. "I've got a full bottle of whisky waiting for me at home. Oh, I wish I'd bought it with me now."

Gwen looked at the pool of water.

"That's not going to flood the whole cave is it?" She asked.

"No, we'll be fine. Look, it's stopped rising." He pointed out.

The storm continued to rage for what felt like hours. Gwen found it hard to keep her mind off it, even when Owen started to run his hands over her curves. She was straddling his waist and kissing him passionately when thunder boomed overhead causing her to jump away quickly.

"I'm sorry, the thunder's just making me nervous." She told him. "But I'm ok now." She jumped at another flash of lightning and looked up. "Maybe not yet."

"Forget about it." He whispered, kissing the spot just behind her ear. "Focus on me."

Owen moved his hand under her shirt and ran it up her side. Her eyes slid shut and she brought her lips back down to his. She rocked her hips against his, dragging a growl from his lips. Another crack of thunder echoed around the cave and she broke away quickly.

"I can't do this now. I'm really sorry." She apologised.

Owen sighed as he sat back and closed his eyes.

"It's fine, it's alright." He said. There was so much guilt in her eyes when he sat back up and looked at her and he instantly felt bad. "Honestly, it's ok. We don't have to do this if you don't feel comfortable. You know I'm not going to force you into anything, just like last night."

"I know you won't." Gwen smiled. She climbed off his lap and sat against the wall. "What should we do?"

"Well, my idea's out." He shrugged.

"For now." She smirked. Gwen tensed as another roll of thunder passed by. "I wonder if it's like this back home."

"If it is, for once I'd say we were the lucky ones. We actually have a pretty good shelter." Owen replied.

Tosh and Ianto were huddled together under the cover of the trees. It was starting to get late now and Jack still hadn't returned. He wasn't answering his phone or his comms.

"Do you think we should go and look for him?" Tosh asked.

"No, he needs space. He'll be back and he'll have come up with a plan to get Gwen and Owen back too." Ianto told her.

"He hasn't answered his phone or anything though. You don't think...he's gone too do you?" She panicked.

"Are there any rift openings nearby?" He asked. Tosh checked her PDA and shook her head. "Then he's fine. You'll see, he'll be back soon."

"I hope so. I don't like it when he wanders off, not after what happened to Gwen and Owen." She said. Her stomach growled and she laughed nervously. "God I'm hungry – and cold. I bet that sounds selfish right now. We should be worrying whether Gwen and Owen have food and shelter and water and here I am thinking about myself."

"They'll be ok. They'll have found something." Ianto reassured her. "It wouldn't surprise me if they were a lot better off than us. Maybe the rift took them somewhere better, they might never want to come back."

Tosh laughed at his attempt to cheer her up but then she began to wonder if he was right. Not all the aliens that came through the rift were bad, so who was to say the rift would only have taken them to bad places?

Back in the cave, an argument had broken out. An old argument they thought had been settled.

"You initiated that kiss." Gwen shouted as she stood at one end.

"I may have started it but I stopped. You were the one that responded and carried it on." He replied.

"You did not stop." She laughed in disbelief. "And what does it matter anyway, you got me to admit I couldn't stop thinking about it. What more do you want?"

"I want the truth about why you didn't stop." He answered.

"Like you said, last kiss for the condemned." She said, looking away.

"Bollocks. We both know that's bollocks." He told her. "I want the _real_ reason. I know what that is and you do too."

"So why do you want me to say it?" She demanded.

"I just want to hear it." He shrugged.

"Tell me what you think first." She said.

"I've told you once already what I think." He replied. "I think you were reaching out, desperate to find someone that could satisfy you. Your boyfriend, yeah he might be ok for a quick shag here and there but he doesn't completely satisfy you. That spark, that fiery, raw, primal urge, that's gone between you two." Gwen's jaw dropped open and she folded her arms over her chest. She started to protest but Owen cut her off. "You were looking for someone that could make you scream so loud your throat feels like it's on fire, someone that could make you come so hard you forget who you are. So when I kissed you, you grabbed that opportunity and you've taken it."

Gwen stormed over to him and slapped him across his cheek.

"Don't you dare talk about Rhys like that. I love him and what we have is special. I wouldn't expect you to understand that." She hissed.

"If what you have is so special, why did _you_ come to _me_ last night? And after, you even admitted you hadn't had that in a long time." He pointed out. She knew he had her there. "Just admit it Gwen."

"Alright, I admit, I love Rhys but...sometimes...maybe he doesn't...tend to all my...needs." She mumbled. "And maybe I don't to all of his."

"So you decided to cheat on him?" Owen laughed.

Gwen looked up at him and he could see his words had stung. He was about to apologise when she turned on her heel and ran into his little area.

"Don't bother following me." She muttered.

Owen sat staring guiltily into the fire. Luckily the water hadn't reached this far and it was still burning. He was meant to be taking care of Gwen, not upsetting her. Why did he have to push her to admit things all the time? Just when they finally seemed to be getting along, his stupid ego had to get in the way.

As he threw another piece of wood onto the fire, he heard quiet sobs coming from behind him. He got up and walked quietly over to where Gwen was.

Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her face buried in her hands as she sobbed. Owen had never felt like such an arse. He hated guys who made women feel like this, and yet here he was doing the exact same thing.

He sat back against the wall beside her and stayed silent. She didn't seem to even acknowledge him but he didn't want to say anything yet in case it escalated the situation.

He waited until she'd stopped crying and had lifted her head up. She wiped her eyes with her hands and hugged her knees, resting her chin on them as she looked straight ahead.

"Gwen, I'm sorry." He said gently. "I shouldn't have pushed you, I was wrong."

"No, you were right." She replied, still not looking at him. "I'm a terrible person."

"You're not a terrible person. If you were, you wouldn't be sitting here right now feeling awful and you wouldn't be saying you were a terrible person." He told her. "I've never known anyone to care so much about other people's feelings and I admire that in you."

"But that's the thing, ever since we got here, I haven't been thinking about anyone else's feelings. I've been selfish, just taking what I want and not thinking – or caring, to be honest – about the consequences." She argued.

"Look, I tell you what we're going to do. We're going to stop this thing between us and we'll forget anything ever happened." He said.

"That's just it." She replied and turned to look at him. "I should stop. But I can't and...I don't want to. It's like an addiction and I should break it...but I don't want to. That's what makes me feel worse."

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I...I don't know." She answered.

She sighed and shook her head. Silence fell between them and neither knew what to say.

"So...I'm an addiction?" He smiled. "I quite like the sound of that." She laughed and looked away in embarrassment. "Hey...listen."

"What?" She frowned.

"The storm's over." He told her.

"So it is." She nodded.

They looked at each other and smiled.

"Do you want to..?" He asked and wriggled his eyebrows.

Gwen raised an eyebrow and thought about it before shrugging and nodding. She grabbed the front of Owen's shirt and pulled him closer, crushing her lips onto his. Owen was taken aback at the aggressiveness of her actions as she pushed him to the floor and climbed on top of him, her lips never leaving his. It was both surprising and arousing. She tore off his shirt and dragged her nails over his skin. When he went to take off her t-shirt, she slapped his hands away and sat up.

"No, I need to be selfish just that little bit longer. This time, I'm in charge. You'll do as I say, when I say. Do you understand that?" She growled. Owen was speechless. This was a side of Gwen he'd never seen before. "I said..." She slipped her hand into his trousers and he hissed, his eyes clamping shut. "Do you understand that?"

"Y-yes." He stammered.

"Yes what?" She asked as she slid the zip down on his jeans and tugged them down.

"Yes I understand." He nodded quickly. He went to touch her again but she grabbed his hands and held them above his head, giving him a chiding look. "Please Gwen."

"All in good time." She told him. "Be patient." She leant back down to whisper in his ear. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."

Soon Owen was panting hard as he collapsed back onto the ground. Gwen crawled back up to capture his lips in a kiss.

"That was – you – you were so right." He said.

His arms wrapped her waist as he kissed her back hungrily.

"I told you it would be worth it." She grinned.

"It was, especially when you finally let me take your clothes off." He smirked. Gwen laughed which turned into a squeal as he flipped them over. "But now, it's my turn to be selfish."

Her eyes slid shut as Owen started to caress her body with his hands and lips.

Jack returned to camp the next morning, looking worse than he had the day before. Dark circles surrounded his bloodshot eyes and his hair stuck up in places as if he'd been running his hands through it. Tosh and Ianto didn't know what to say to him as they looked up sadly at him.

"Any rift openings?" He asked Tosh.

Tosh checked her PDA and shook her head.

"Jack, Tosh and I have been talking." Ianto told him. "The rift manipulator. Maybe we could go back to Cardiff and use it to open the rift."

"No way." Jack replied firmly. "We are not messing with the rift, it's way too dangerous."

"But if we opened it they could come back through. It would only be open for a few minutes maximum." Ianto argued.

"I said no." The Captain repeated.

"Then what else are we supposed to do?" Ianto shouted as he stood up. Tosh and Jack looked at him, stunned. "I don't understand what you expect us to do, Jack. We're just sitting here doing nothing. You wouldn't do anything for Lisa and now you're not doing anything for your own team."

Ianto broke down for the first time since their two team mates had disappeared. He couldn't bottle it up any longer and he was tired of being the one to stay strong for the others. He dropped to his knees and held his face in his hands. Jack walked over and knelt down beside the younger man. He wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a tight hold against his chest.

"It's ok." Jack whispered reassuringly. "Let it all out." Jack motioned for Tosh to join them. As she sat beside him, Jack kept one arm wrapped around Ianto and put the other one around Tosh. He kissed the tops of each of their heads. "We're going to get them back. I promise you, we will find a way."

A week later, Gwen's eyes slowly fluttered open and she lifted her head up to look at Owen. He was still sleeping soundly, which wasn't surprising. Last night had been quite a night. They'd both taught each other a few things, new likes and dislikes, discovering of old likes that they'd forgotten about. Gwen smiled as she remembered how her flexibility had been put to the test. Her whole body suddenly ached as if to reinforce the memory.

She placed her head back on Owen's chest and closed her eyes as she listened to his gentle breathing and the steady beating of his heart.

As she let her eyes open again, they wandered over the cave floor, over discarded clothing until they reached Owen's jeans. She remembered the PDA in his pocket and began to think. Owen hadn't mentioned it again since they'd found it and she couldn't remember him ever taking it out again. Hadn't he said he was going to keep an eye on it?

She untangled herself from his limbs, her muscles protesting at the movement, and quietly walked over to where his jeans lay. Bending down, she picked them up and dug her hand into his pocket, her fingers curling around the device. When she brought it out, she dropped the jeans back to the floor and flipped the device so she could see the screen. She gasped at the readings.

Owen suddenly woke up as he immediately felt the warmth of Gwen's body disappear from his. The cold draught was unwelcome but the view he got made him forget about it. His eyes ran down Gwen's back to her arse and down her long legs. He almost groaned as he thought of those legs clinging around his waist, pulling him as close to her as physically possible and then some. His eyes drifted back to her arse.

"What's that arse doing all the way over there? It should be right here where I can get my hands on it." Owen said as he propped himself up on his elbows. Gwen didn't turn around or answer. She seemed to be frozen to the spot. He frowned as he sensed something was wrong. "Gwen, what's wrong?" She seemed to snap into action as she grabbed her clothes and started to pull them on. He didn't seem to notice the device clutched in her right hand. Owen jumped up and started to dress too, still confused. She ran out of the little area towards the hole. "Gwen, will you tell me what's happening?"

He ran out after her and nearly bumped into her as she spun around and glared at him. She shoved the device into his chest and he was suddenly filled with dread as he took it from her.

"You lied to me." She shouted. "You told me that the rift opening was growing and that we'd get out of here. You lied. The rift closed and you've been hiding it from me all this time. What else have you been hiding from me?" She turned and started to climb up to the hole. "What's really out there?"

Owen pulled her back down and held her arms tightly.

"You can't go out there." He told her. "It's too dangerous."

She twisted herself out of his grip and started climbing again.

"I want to see. I want to know the truth." She yelled.

Owen climbed after her and when he scrambled out, he saw Gwen running in the direction he had on their first day. He hadn't been back this way since then but the image and the smell remained burned in his memory.

"Gwen, don't go down there. Please, come back and I'll explain everything. I'll show you everything." He called. "Just please don't go that way."

Gwen ignored him and continued to run. She slowed and came to a stop as she spotted the backpack and the discarded wallet with the driving licence inside. Owen appeared a few minutes later but she continued to ignore him. She slowly picked up the wallet then turned to him.

"Where are they?" She asked, the tone of her voice low and dangerous. "What happened to these people? And no more lies, I want the truth." She didn't miss Owen swallowing or the flicker of his eyes to something on the ground behind her. Slowly turning around, her eyes fell on the pile of bones with their rotting flesh and she gasped. "Oh my God. What did that to them?"

She couldn't take her eyes off the pile of bones as Owen walked up behind her.

"Don't look. It'll only upset you more." He said.

He tried to wrap his arms around her and turn her around but she shrugged out of his grasp and stepped away. Pointing a finger at him, she fixed him with a glare.

"Don't you dare touch me." She spat. "You lied to me."

"I was doing it to protect you." He told her. "I didn't want to make this any harder on you."

"You'd better start telling me everything right now." She demanded. A dark shadow passed behind Gwen and Owen froze. In his haste to follow Gwen out of the cave, he'd forgotten to pick up the guns and he cursed himself. "Owen! Tell me!"

"Gwen, sh." He whispered.

"Don't you dare tell me to shush. I want the truth and I want it now." She shouted. A roar sounded from behind her and she spun around quickly. She backed up to stand behind Owen and clung to him, all her anger gone and replaced with fear. "What is it? Owen, what is it?"

"Just back away slowly and as quietly as possible." Owen whispered as calmly as he could. He was trying not to panic to keep her calm. "Head back towards the cave."

Gwen did as he said, keeping a tight grip on him. Their eyes were locked on the spot ahead of them as they backed away. The shadow reappeared again and Gwen started to whimper. He reached around for her hand and held it tight in his. She was shaking uncontrollably as the shadow grew and they felt the ground shaking beneath their feet. She started to sob and he tried to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

The creature broke through the trees ahead and Gwen froze out of fear. He tried to get her to move but her feet stayed planted to the floor, her eyes staring widely at the creature. It roared again and started to run towards them. Owen used all his strength to grab Gwen around the waist and drag her with him as he ran back towards to the cave.

Another roar echoed through the forest and Gwen screamed, finally finding her feet. She started to run and Owen, satisfied that she was following, let her go and ran ahead slightly. When he looked back over his shoulder at her, he saw her turn left, deeper into the trees. The creature lurched after her.

"Shit." Owen spat as he ran after her. He could hear the thundering footsteps of the creature up ahead but he couldn't see it or Gwen. "Gwen! Gwen, where are you? Gwen!"

A blood curdling scream filled the air and he froze. For a few seconds he couldn't move. His head spun and he fought the urge to vomit. He gagged and stumbled, thinking the worst. No. He couldn't give up yet.

Pulling himself together, he forced his feet to move and pelted towards the direction of the scream. He heard another roar and adrenaline pushed his legs faster. Blood pounded in his head and his lungs felt as if they were going to burst.

He leapt out of the trees into a clearing. There was a huge wall of rock in front of him creating a dead end. Looking to the side, he saw the creature bending over a whimpering figure. Owen picked up a few loose stones and rocks and began throwing them at the creature.

"Oi, over here." He yelled. The creature spun around and roared. "Yep, I've really pissed him off now." It started to stomp slowly towards him and he looked at Gwen. "Gwen, get up. Run! Move!" She stayed on the ground, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. "Move!"

The creature was almost upon him and he couldn't waste any more time shouting at her. He turned and fled back into the forest, the creature hot on his heels.

Gwen stood up shakily and followed, clutching a wounded arm.

Owen dodged out of the way of tree branches and jumped over fallen trees and roots. It slowed him down considerably but he couldn't stop. The creature didn't need to worry about things like that. It simply brushed them aside as it ran as easily as Owen would have moved a leaf out of his way.

He skidded to a stop as he came out of the trees once again and almost tumbled off another cliff. The creature soon burst through after him but it continued to run. Owen dodged out of it's way and it ran straight off the edge. It swiped at Owen as it went down, it's claw ripping into the flesh of his leg and flipping him off his feet. Owen cried out in pain which turned to terror as he realised he was going over the edge too. He grabbed onto the edge of the cliff, his legs scrabbling at the rock as he tried to push himself up. Pain shot through his injured leg and travelled through his body. He felt himself slipping and his knuckles turned white and almost burst through his skin as he tried to hold on.

"Owen!" He heard Gwen scream. Her face appeared above him seconds later and she grabbed one of his arms. He saw her left arm was covered in blood and she winced in pain but she ignored it. "Grab hold of my arm."

He twisted his wrist to grab her arm and let go of the rock with his other to quickly do the same. She planted both heels into the ground and heaved. She gritted her teeth at the pain but continued to pull. Owen used his legs to push himself up. Gwen fell back, pulling him with her. He landed on top of her and both lay still, panting as they caught their breath. She kept a tight grip on him as she continued to shake. He sat up and pulled her into his arms, gently rocking her until she'd calmed down. She could hear his heart pounding in his chest and she tried her best to comfort him back.

After a while, he pulled away and his doctor's side kicked in. He took hold of Gwen's left hand and started to examine the wound. It ran down the length of her arm, stopping just before her wrist.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I was running and I hit the dead end. It was right behind me and I tried to get past but it went for me. It scratched me with it's claw thing." She explained. She hissed as he ran his finger gently over it and glanced at his leg. "Your leg looks worse, you should look at that first."

"It'll be fine." He said, brushing it off. "Come on, we'd better get back to the cave before any more of those things show up."

Gwen had to support Owen as he limped back to the cave.

Once back inside, Owen told her to wash her arm in the pool. He took off his jeans and waded in himself, groaning as the water stung his leg. She watched him with concern as she sat on the rock in the centre.

"It's serious isn't it." She said. "Don't bother telling me any more lies."

"It's not serious. It's just deep." He told her. "To be honest, I was more concerned about that arm of yours. Any deeper and it'd have been sliced open."

She cringed at the thought and went back to cleaning her wound.

Once she'd finished, she looked back up at Owen who was now sat in the shallow end, his fists and jaw clenched as the water lapped at his leg.

"Owen, I'm sorry I got us into all this trouble. I should have known you were doing what you thought was best." She apologised. "I just...when I found out we aren't ever going to go home..."

Her voice trailed off as fresh tears burned in her eyes. He walked over to her and stood between her legs, holding her face between his hands.

"This wasn't your fault." He said.

"You almost fell off that cliff." She argued. "That never would have happened if I hadn't have gone out there in the first place."

"It wasn't your fault." He repeated firmly. "I should have told you the truth from the start. I thought I was doing what was best at the time but look where that got us. Just promise me, you won't go out there again."

"I promise I won't." She replied. "But how can I let you go when I know what's out there?"

"I'll be fine." He reassured her.

"With a wounded leg?" She demanded. "How can you run away from one of those things when you can hardly walk?"

"They don't tend to come out of the trees if they don't have to. Trust me, I've been out there enough times to notice these things. I'll stay well away from them, I swear." He told her.

"You'd better." She said. She put her hands on his shoulders and leant in to kiss him. When she pulled away, she sighed and looked away sadly. "So...we're never going home. I wonder what story Jack's going to make up to explain our disappearance."

"We don't know for certain that we're not going to go home. The rift could open again at any time." He replied.

"Owen, don't. I don't want to get my hopes up again. Please, just...say we're not going home." She told him.

There was a pleading look in her eyes and he couldn't refuse.

"We're not going home." He said quietly.

She looked down and took a deep breath. When she looked back up, she gave him a small smile and nodded.

"Thank you." She replied.

"I guess that means you're stuck with me." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "Sorry about that."

"I can live with that." She laughed. "If you can live with being stuck with me."

Owen groaned dramatically and she gasped in mock offence.

"I suppose...I'll be alright." He shrugged.

She giggled and shook her head.

"You do know how to make me laugh." She smiled.

"I know how to make you scream too." He smirked, wriggling his eyebrows.

Gwen tutted and pushed him away slightly before laughing and pulling him back into a kiss.

After Gwen insisted on taking a look at his leg, they sat back against the wall by the fire and dried off. Owen draped his arm around her shoulders and she leant her head on his.

"Don't you miss it?" She asked. "Home, I mean."

"I do." He nodded. "I miss it a lot but we can't sit moping around here all day. We have to move on if we want to survive. We have to stay strong and stick together." Gwen looked at him and nodded. Her stomach growled and she looked away in embarrassment. "And we have to eat."

"Sorry." Gwen blushed.

"Why are you sorry? After today, I think we're both starving." He told her.

He shifted away from her to start preparing them their meal. Gwen immediately missed the comfort of his warm, solid body and hugged herself to try and replicate it but it wasn't the same.

She watched him as he started to pluck one of the many chicken-like creatures he'd collected.

"Do we have to eat that all the time? It's good but...it's getting a bit boring." She sighed.

"It's the only thing I can find that seems edible." He told her.

"How do we even know it's edible?" She asked.

"It hasn't killed us yet." He answered simply.

When it was time for them to go to sleep, they walked into Owen's half of the cave. Gwen took hold of Owen's hand and looked into his eyes.

"Owen...tonight, do you mind if we don't..." She said. "I just...need you to hold me tonight."

"Gwen, it's fine. You know it is." He replied gently. "Come here."

He pulled her down and lay on the floor. She made sure to stay away from his injured leg as he pulled her to lie beside him. He wrapped his arms around her as she placed her head on his chest. When he kissed the top of her head, she looked up and smiled.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for me." She told him. "And I like this side of you I'm seeing. You're not the complete arse I met a few months ago. Why aren't you like this all the time?"

"Because then I'd be boring and it would totally ruin my image." He said.

"But seriously, why are you doing this? Why aren't you making stupid comments and teasing me and making my life hell?" She asked.

"I just...despite how I've acted towards you, I actually like you." He admitted. "You're not...possessed by the job like the rest of us. You're...normal and it's kind of a breath of fresh air. And...I was actually flirting."

Gwen blushed and smiled shyly.

"Well...I'm flattered." She replied. "And to be honest...even though you made me want to tear my hair out at times...I liked you too. I'd never met anyone like you and you intrigued me and I may have...flirted back a bit."

"Just so you know, I would not be doing any of this if I was trapped with one of the others." He told her.

They smiled at each other and Gwen couldn't resist the urge to lean up and kiss him. She lay back down and closed her eyes, a smile on her face.

"Goodnight." She sighed.

"Night Gwen." He replied, wrapping his arms around her a little tighter.

She was running through the forest again. It was pitch black and deadly silent apart from the pounding of her feet and her sharp breaths. She was completely alone. She didn't know where she was going or why she was running but she felt a sense of urgency.

Owen? Where was he? Why had he abandoned her?

Suddenly, the ground started to shake beneath her feet and she heard the sound of giant, thumping footsteps behind her. They were gaining on her and she willed her feet to go faster but they seemed to do the opposite. She came to an abrupt stop and she started to sob as her feet refused to move. The footsteps stopped and she heard a deafening roar. The stench of rotting flesh hit her as hot breath blew across the back of her neck. She tried to scream but no sound came out. Throwing her arms over her head, she screwed her eyes shut and waited for the creature to strike.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and lowered her arms slowly. She wasn't in the forest any more. Looking straight down, she noticed she was on the edge of the cliff. Hanging off the edge of the cliff, clinging on by his fingertips, was Owen. Her eyes widened as he looked back up at her, his own eyes wide with fright.

"Gwen, help me." He shouted. She went to grab him but once again, her body had frozen. It wouldn't move and she was forced to just stare down at him. "Gwen, please. I can't hold on." Tears streamed down her face as she strained to get her body to move. Owen was struggling to hold on now and he was pleading desperately with his eyes, Her limbs suddenly snapped back into action and she fell to her knees, grabbing onto his arm. She pulled, digging her heels into the ground, but she felt herself moving forwards towards the edge. If she tried to pull any more, she'd go tumbling over herself. As Owen let go of the rock, Gwen's hand snapped open. He looked at her in shock and she gasped. One word escaped his lips as he began to fall. "Traitor."

Gwen screamed, this time the sound tearing through her.

Her eyes snapped open and someone was gripping her wrists tightly as she thrashed around.

"Gwen! Gwen, it's ok." Owen's voice called. "Gwen, it was just a dream."

In the darkness of the cave, she could just see the moonlight that filtered through the hole reflected in his eyes. She gripped onto him and buried her face in his chest.

"I let you go." She sobbed. "I tried...I tried to pull you up but I let you go. You – I – you fell and I -"

"It's alright, it was just a dream." He whispered soothingly. He rocked her and ran his hand through her hair. "Everything's ok."

"Owen, I'm sorry." She cried into his chest.

"It wasn't real, it was only a nightmare." He reassured her.

She took deep, shaking breaths as she tried to calm herself down.

Once she'd stopped crying, she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily, again and again. Owen neither responded or pushed her away. He let her do what she needed to calm herself. When she broke away, she looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just...I needed..." She mumbled. "I know it wasn't real but I...I killed you. I let you go off the edge of that cliff."

"Sh, forget about it." He whispered. "Come on, lie back down." She lay down again with her head on his chest and clung to the front of his shirt. "Close your eyes."

She didn't want to. She didn't want the darkness to swallow her and take her back to that dream. But with the feel of his fingers running through her hair and the sounds of his heart beating it's steady rhythm and his voice whispering soothing words to her, she found it hard to keep her eyes open.

Soon she was drifting off and Owen listened to her gentle breathing. He fought to stay awake in case she woke again and needed him but he too, drifted into unconsciousness.

Another week later, Tosh and Ianto were exhausted as they sat on a log leaning against each other. Jack barely spoke to them as he clutched Tosh's PDA in his hands. He'd forced them to stay at the top of the cliff and wait for another rift opening.

Tosh and Ianto glanced at each other and nodded.

"Jack..." Tosh said gently. "It's been two weeks. I think...I think we should go home. The gaps between the rift openings were never this long."

"We're not giving up on them now." Jack growled.

"We can't wait out here forever." Ianto told him. "And you know Gwen and Owen wouldn't want us to waste our lives out here."

"You want to go home, you go." Jack shouted and stood up to glare at them. "But I am not leaving here until I get them back. If you're not with me, leave now."

Tosh and Ianto looked at each other once again and sighed.

"We're staying." Tosh nodded. "But only for another week, Jack. Then we're going home. You too."

Jack looked like he was about to disagree but fell silent and nodded.

"You're right." He mumbled. "One more week – hey." The PDA beeped in his hand and he stared down wide-eyed at it. "Oh my God."

"Jack, what is it?" Ianto asked, standing up.

"The rift. It's opened again. Back down where we investigated." He told them. "Come on."

Tosh grabbed Gwen's jacket as she and Ianto ran after Jack.

Gwen was sitting by the fire, waiting for Owen to come back from collecting more firewood. She heard a beeping behind her and she looked over to the rock where Owen had put the PDA. Thinking it was probably telling her it was running out of charge, she tutted and turned away.

The more she tried to ignore it, the louder it got. With a sigh of frustration, she stood up and stormed over to it, intending to turn it off. Something on the screen caught her eye and she checked the readings. Her eyes widened and she read them over and over again to make sure.

Not wanting to wait for Owen to get back, she climbed out of the cave and looked around for him. She spotted him walking back with an armful of twigs and logs. She ran towards him, the PDA clutched tightly in her hand.

"Gwen, I thought I told you to stay in the cave." He scolded. "It's too dangerous out here. Look at your arm."

"I know." She said. "But look."

She showed him the PDA and he frowned as he looked down at it. After a few seconds, the logs fell from his arms and he grabbed it from her hand.

"The rift's open." He gasped. "I don't...I don't believe it."

"Well where is it?" She asked. "Maybe we can get back home."

"There's a slim chance we'll end up back home. We could go anywhere." He told her.

"But we have to try. Please Owen." She begged.

"Alright, we'll try." He sighed.

"Where is it?" She asked.

"It's..." He looked around in the direction the PDA was telling him and groaned. "Oh fuck. It's through there."

He pointed through the trees and her eyes widened.

"Ok...we'll just have to be careful." She said, swallowing nervously as she stared at the trees.

"Yeah...yeah..." He nodded. "I'll...go back and get the other gun. Wait here and do _not_ wander off."

"I'm not a child Owen." She argued.

"I know but I don't fancy climbing back out of there and seeing a pile of your bones on the floor." He replied. "Just stay here."

He handed her the PDA and jogged back to the cave, still limping slightly. Gwen tapped her foot as she waited impatiently for him to return.

Once he'd returned, she handed him the PDA back as he passed her one of the guns, and they set off in the direction of the rift opening.

They took slow, steady steps as they walked through the forest, looking all around them as they went. Gwen jumped at every shadow and Owen was starting to get irritated.

"I'm sorry." She said. "But after what happened, can you blame me?"

"Just be quiet will you?" He snapped.

"Don't tell me what to do." She snapped back. Something moved ahead and she froze. "Ok, being quiet now."

They carried on, eyes trained on where the sound had come from. Owen glanced at her and saw that she looked terrified. He felt bad for snapping at her so he took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled back before turning back to look around her.

More shadows flew past them and they heard twigs snapping. Owen stopped and stared through the trees. Gwen frowned as she looked between him and where he was staring. She couldn't see a thing. Just as she was about to ask him about it, he held his hand up to silence her.

"Gwen, do you trust me?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Of course I do." She nodded.

"Good because I need you to trust me right now. Please, just promise me you'll do anything I tell you to do in the next few minutes." He replied.

"I promise. Owen, what is it? You're starting to scare me." She told him.

"You promise you'll do anything?" He clarified.

"Yes anything." She nodded. "But -"

"Kiss me." He interrupted. She frowned at him in confusion as he grabbed her arms and pulled her into him, crushing his lips onto hers. His hand tangled in her hair as the other moved to the base of her back. Gwen gasped as she responded eagerly, her arms snaking around his neck. He pulled away, all too soon for her liking, and she tried to clamp her lips back onto his. He prised her arms from around him and pressed the PDA into her hand. "Now run. Don't stop, don't turn around, don't wait for me. Just go. Get back through the rift."

"What?" She gasped. "No. I can't leave you – I _won't_ leave you."

"You have to." He said firmly.

"What are you going to do?" She demanded.

"I'm going to buy you time." He answered. One of the huge dinosaur creatures broke through the trees to the side where he'd been staring and roared. He grabbed hold of her and pushed her away. "Go. _Now_!"

"No!" She shouted. "I'm not leaving unless you come with me."

"Gwen, please." He shouted. His face softened and his voice dropped as he practically begged her. "Please, run." She took one last look at him before turning and running. Owen watched her go then turned back as the creature started to stomp towards him. "Come on, you ugly bastard, come chase me."

Owen turned and ran in the opposite direction to Gwen, just as the creature started to speed up.

Gwen checked the PDA to make sure she was heading in the right direction. She gritted her teeth and ignored her lungs as they screamed for more air. She had to keep going.

Her mind filled with thoughts of Owen as tears streamed down her face. She replayed everything they'd shared together in the cave, everything they'd said, everything they'd done.

The nightmare she'd had suddenly burned in her mind and she skidded to a stop. It felt like she was doing exactly what she'd done in the dream. Letting him fall to save herself. Well this time, she wasn't going to let that happen.

Shoving the PDA in her back pocket, she took the safety off her gun and ran back through the trees in search of Owen.

Owen's face was screwed up in pain as he ran. His leg wasn't healing as well as it should have done and at the minute, it was causing him excruciating pain. His slight limp meant he was running much slower than he usually would. The creature was close behind him. So close he could feel it's hot breath on his back.

"Keep running." He thought. "You have to do this. You're doing this to save Gwen's life. You need to keep running."

The thought alone spurred him on and he dived from side to side. The creature became disorientated as it followed and soon started to lag behind.

Owen suddenly changed direction, confusing it for a few seconds before it roared and followed. It put just enough distance between them to enable him to shimmy up a tree. He took aim with his gun and fired. The bullet pierced the creature's side and it screeched but didn't fall. It grabbed the tree trunk between it's claws and began to shake. The tree creaked and groaned and it didn't sound good. Owen wrapped some of the thinner, more bendy branches around one of his legs and his hand as he leant forwards and fired off more bullets. Each bullet hit home and the creature stumbled back but it wasn't defeated yet.

Using the last of it's strength, it threw itself at the tree causing the trunk to snap and Owen to descend with it. The breath was knocked out of him as he landed and he knew he wouldn't get up in time before the creature pounced.

Suddenly, a shot rang out and with one last ear-splitting roar, the creature tumbled to the ground. Owen pulled himself up and looked around in confusion.

Gwen was stood a little way ahead, her feet evenly spaced with a gun held in both hands, arms pointed straight ahead and a smug smile on her face. She lowered the gun and hooked it into her belt.

"That's twice I've saved your arse now." She said.

"I told you to run." Owen shouted as he stormed over to her.

"Don't bother thanking me then." She sighed. "And I told you I'm not leaving without you."

"Anything could have happened there. Neither of us could have been so lucky this time around." He argued. She looked down at the ground and he took her hand. "But thank you. I'm really grateful that you came back."

She looked back up and smiled at him as he pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. The PDA beeped again and he pulled it out of her pocket.

"Oi! Cheeky." She grinned as they pulled apart. "What does it say?"

"We've got to run. The rift is closing again. Come on." He said quickly and grabbed her hand. He pulled her through the trees, Owen's eyes were glued to the screen as he watched the rift opening getting smaller and smaller. Running on adrenaline, they sped up and jumped over fallen logs and twisted tree roots. Gwen tripped and her ankle went out from under her and made a loud crunching sound. She yelled in pain as she fell to the floor. Owen kept a tight grip on her hand and tried to pull her back up. "Come on. Get up."

"I can't." She whimpered.

Owen bent down and scooped her up in his arms.

"Hold on tight." He told her.

"Oh, I've heard that one before." She smiled.

Owen wriggled his eyebrows and started to run.

With his bad leg and Gwen's extra weight, their speed wasn't ideal but it was still quick.

They reached the spot the PDA had indicated just in time. They couldn't see it but the PDA told them it was just a few paces in front.

"Alright...here we go." He said.

Owen took a deep breath and jumped. Gwen buried her face in his chest and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for something to happen.

Jack, Ianto and Tosh arrived at the spot they'd investigated on the day Gwen and Owen went missing. The Captain looked down at the PDA in his hand and then around at the area.

"It's here." He told them and looked back down. "And there's something coming through."

"Gwen and Owen." Tosh gasped.

"I hope so." He nodded.

The three of them held their breaths as they waited.

They heard the sound of electricity crackling and bright lights flashed in front of them. With the sound of a popping light bulb, two figures tumbled out of the air and onto the floor. Jack looked down at the readings and saw that the rift had snapped shut behind them.

"Oh my God." Ianto gasped.

Gwen lay on her front and lifted herself up on her arms with a groan. Her eyes widened as they fell on her three team mates in front of her. She reached out and shook Owen who still lay face down on the ground, groaning.

"Owen – we made it." She said urgently.

He pulled himself up and laughed hysterically.

"We made it. My God, we actually made it." He laughed.

"What happened to you two?" Jack asked as he spotted their wounds and stepped forward to help Owen up.

Ianto moved to help Gwen and Tosh almost bowled her over again as she launched herself at the other woman.

"Long story." Owen answered.

"I had to save his arse twice." Gwen told them as she leant against Ianto.

"Yeah but I saved yours too – and I risked my life to save yours." Owen reminded her.

"Ok, you're going to have to fill us in later." Jack grinned. "But for now, I'm just so happy to see you both. I said we should wait and I was going to wait forever if I had to." He hugged them both and kissed them both on the top of their heads. Owen grumbled and moved away as Jack chuckled and ruffled his hair. He suddenly turned serious and fixed them both with a glare. "Saying that, what the hell do you think you were doing throwing yourselves off a cliff?"

"Erm...technically, I jumped in after her to save her." Owen pointed out.

"You shouldn't have let her go in the first place." Jack argued.

"I didn't have a choice." He said defensively. "She just jumped."

Jack turned his gaze to Gwen and he folded his arms, his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"I...we were investigating...you told us to go and investigate and it was the only way I could..." She mumbled, staring down at the ground.

"I didn't tell you to throw yourself off a cliff to do it." He replied. "When we get back, you're both on Weevil duty for a month."

"What? It wasn't my fault though." Owen complained.

"Zip it or I'll make it two." Jack said and turned back to Gwen as she opened her mouth. "That goes for you too."

Gwen closed her mouth and looked away.

"Here Gwen, I think these belong to you." Tosh smiled as she passed the Welshwoman her jacket and phone. "We had to turn your phone off, you'll see why."

"Oh my God." Gwen grinned. "My jacket. I was about ready to kill Owen for losing this."

"Yeah so thanks for getting that back." Owen nodded.

Gwen laughed and shook her head. Her face fell as she turned her phone on and saw the hundreds of texts and missed calls from Rhys.

"Rhys." She sighed. "Oh great, so there was signal when he sent me all these but there's no signal for me to call him back. Great."

"Jack, what do we do about the rift? How do we stop it from doing this again?" Ianto asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." Jack told him. "We can't control the rift. All we can do, is put some kind of story out there and make sure no one comes near these parts. Gwen, Owen, did you find Maria and James?"

They looked at each other and then back at Jack.

"We found...bits of them." Owen answered.

Gwen cringed and glared at Owen.

"Was it necessary to say _that_? You could have just said they were dead." Gwen snapped.

"We'll need to come up with a cover story." Tosh said.

"Let's just go home and worry about it tomorrow. We all deserve a rest." Jack sighed.

Gwen winced as Ianto started to help her walk and Owen stopped them.

"Here, I've got her." Owen told him as he put his arm around Gwen's waist.

"Are you sure? Your leg doesn't look so good." Ianto replied.

"I'll have you know, I carried Gwen and ran with her on this bad leg." He said. "I've got her."

"Ianto, it's fine." Gwen nodded. "Actually, I need to talk to Owen about...some things so..."

"Alright, well...shout me if you need me." Ianto shrugged and walked on ahead.

"What do you think I've done to it?" She asked Owen.

They started a slow pace as the others went on ahead.

"I think you've sprained it pretty bad." He answered. "I can't be sure until I can x-ray it at the Hub but I don't think it's broken."

"Oh that's alright then." Gwen replied.

"Yeah." Owen nodded. As soon as he was sure they were out of earshot, he glanced at her. "You didn't want to talk about your ankle did you?"

"No." She answered. "Owen...I think it's best if we forget what happened...you know and I don't think we should talk about it either."

"Oh...well, we did agree it was only going to continue until we came back home." He said. "And we're home now so...that's it. I agree, we should...forget about it like you said."

"Yes." Gwen nodded, a little disappointed.

Jack turned and spotted them lagging behind.

"Everything ok back there?" He called.

"Yeah fine." Owen nodded. "I don't know if you've noticed though, but neither of us can walk as fast as you lot at the minute."

"Excuses, excuses." Jack smiled but he made sure to go slower after that.

It was a long flight home and all five of them fell asleep on the journey.

By the time they reached Cardiff, it was late into the night and they were all groggy as they entered the Hub. Owen went to take Gwen down to the autopsy room but she pushed him away and sat herself down on the little sofa.

"Go and sort yourself out first." She said firmly. "I know that leg's worse than you've been making it out to be."

She gave him a small smile and he rolled his eyes but smiled back. He disappeared down into the autopsy bay without another word. Tosh and Ianto looked at each other in shock.

"This experience _has_ done them some good." Tosh commented.

"It's excellent." Ianto nodded. "I'll miss the drama though. It's going to be very quiet around here."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." Tosh smiled. "It is Owen we're talking about here. He'll be back to his usual self in no time."

Owen reappeared after having seen to his leg and began to help Gwen up off the sofa.

"Come on Newbie, let's get that ankle seen to." He said.

"Owen, don't start." Gwen warned. "I'm tired and I will have to hurt you."

"Oh I am sorry." He replied sarcastically.

Gwen glared at him as he helped her hobble down into the autopsy room.

"See." Toshiko grinned.

"Look, I said we should forget about what happened but I didn't say it was ok to start being a pain in the arse again." Gwen grumbled as she sat up on the autopsy table.

"I just thought it'd be better if we didn't act too differently around each other." He told her.

"Yeah I understand that but can you please stop with the Newbie and whatever other stupid nicknames you've come up with?" She asked.

"Aaw but now I know Sweet Cheeks fits so well." He smirked.

"Owen." She warned.

"Alright." He smiled. "And I promise I won't be so mean."

"Thank you." She giggled.

"Ok, I need you to put your legs up on here so I can x-ray that ankle." He told her.

She hissed as she swung her legs onto the table with her and stretched out. Owen tried to be as gentle as he could as he prepared her but she cried out in pain. She punched him in the arm and he shouted out.

Jack came running out onto the balcony to see what was wrong. When he saw everything was ok, he smirked down at them and stepped closer.

"Was wondering what you two were doing down here." He said. "What did you two do to pass the time away anyway?"

The two glanced at each other causing Gwen to blush and she couldn't look at Jack.

"Well...we did what we usually do." She shrugged, wincing as Owen brushed past her ankle to get the x-ray machine. "You know...we argued...a lot."

"You two can't go anywhere without fighting can you?" Jack sighed and left the room.

Owen performed the x-ray and looked at her chart.

"Well, you haven't broken it. It's just sprained. I'll bandage it up and you'll have to rest it for a few weeks. As for your arm, I'd say it was healing pretty nicely." He explained. "Do you need a lift home?"

"Should you be driving with your leg?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." He shrugged as he started to bandage up her ankle. "So do you want a lift or not?"

"Well...actually, better not." She answered.

Ianto came in carrying a set of crutches and handed them to Gwen.

"Thought you might need these." He told her.

"Oh God." Gwen groaned. "Thanks Ianto."

"You're welcome." He smiled. "And Jack said he'll take you home whenever you're ready."

"I'm on my way." Gwen replied. "It may take me a while but...I'm coming." Ianto nodded and left to tell Jack. Gwen hoisted herself off the table and tried her best to walk with the crutches. "I haven't done this since I was a kid and broke my leg falling down the stairs."

When she reached the steps, she tried to work out how she was going to get up and Owen rolled his eyes.

"Come here." He sighed and lifted her up like he had done in the forest.

He carried her up the stairs and into the main area. She felt her breath catch as they stared into each other's eyes. Gwen blinked first and looked away.

"Erm...thanks, Owen. You can...put me down now." She mumbled.

"Oh – yeah. Sorry." He replied and gently set her down.

"You ready to go Gwen?" Jack asked as he left his office.

"Yeah." She nodded quickly. "God, I can't wait to go home, get a nice cuppa, a hot bath and climb into bed."

"Me too." Tosh agreed.

"Go home everybody." Jack said. "And only come in when you can drag yourselves out of bed. We all deserve some rest."

They said goodnight and climbed into their cars, each one looking forward to the creature comforts that waited for them at home.

Gwen hobbled into her flat, growing more and more frustrated with the crutches. She swore and threw them onto the floor. As she limped towards the kitchen, Rhys poked his head around the bedroom door.

"Gwen?" He called sleepily.

She turned and smiled.

"Hey sweetheart. Oh I'm sorry, I didn't wake you did I?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it." He yawned and followed her into the kitchen. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Oh I...fell down some stairs at the...erm, work thing." She lied. "Just a sprain that's all."

"Why didn't you answer my calls or ring me back?" He asked.

"Bloody phone died." She sighed. She smiled and held her arms out to him. "Come here you, anyway. I have missed you so much." He walked over to her and kissed her. She responded eagerly as she realised just how much she'd missed him. "I love you. Now make me a cuppa while I go run a bath, I am stinking."

"Wondered what that smell was." He joked.

"Oi. Cheeky bugger." She smiled.

Giving him one last peck on the lips, she disappeared into the bathroom and started to get ready for a long soak.

When Rhys came in with her tea, she was lying back in the bath with her bad ankle propped up on the other end. Her eyes were closed as he bent over to kiss her forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled as he sat on the side of the bath.

"Here, tea's ready." He said and passed it to her.

"Thanks sweetheart." She sighed.

Rhys' eyes dropped below the water and he spotted bruises on her hips and one on her thigh.

"How did you get those bruises?" He frowned.

"Banged myself." She answered quickly. "When I fell down the stairs. Listen, you go to bed. I don't know how long I'll be in here and I don't want to keep you up."

"I won't argue with you there." He nodded and yawned again. "See you in a bit."

She smiled as he left then sank further into the water and let out a long breath. Rhys had seen the marks she'd forgotten all about. The marks left by one Owen Harper. She looked down at herself and ran her fingers over the purple spots. As she did, she remembered how he'd given her each and every one. Her imagination started to run wild and she could practically feel him giving them to her all over again.

It wasn't until a gasp escaped her lips that she realised what she was doing. She was fantasizing about another man when her boyfriend was sleeping in the next room. That feeling of guilt churned in her stomach once again and she rushed to finish her bath. She could have a soak another day.

Once she'd dried her hair with the towel, she climbed into bed beside Rhys and watched him sleeping. He rolled towards her and draped his arm over her stomach and she placed her hand over it. She moved closer to him and closed her eyes, forcing back her tears. Even though she felt guilty, she couldn't stop thinking about or craving Owen's touch.

About a month later, the team were wrapping up a meeting in the boardroom. There'd been no reports of anyone else going missing since Tosh had sent out a fake story saying there were dangerous creatures in the area and no one was to go near there under any circumstances.

Jack, satisfied that the meeting was over, let them all get back to work. Gwen and Owen glanced at each other across the table and they knew they were going to stay put.

The others left the room and Gwen looked at her hands clasped on the table.

"We're going to talk about it aren't we?" She said quietly.

"I think so." Owen nodded. There was a moment of silence where Gwen couldn't look at him and played with her fingers. "To be honest, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."

"Really? Well...I might have thought about it once or – alright, I couldn't bloody stop either." She admitted.

"But it was good, right?" He said. "We were...pretty good."

"We were." She nodded, looking at him for the first time. "We were more than just 'pretty good'." She leant forward, the look in her eyes changing to a pleading stare. "But we can't let it happen again. I can't do that to Rhys. It's bad enough I have to wake up every day and look at him feeling this horrible guilt."

"But we can't throw away something so good." Owen argued. "You said it yourself, it's wasteful."

"That was different." She replied. "Please Owen. We can look and we can think but we can't let it happen again. Just...please."

"You're right." He said eventually. "We said it would lead to complications if it carried on and I think it's already started. We should just...put an end to everything right now."

"Thank you." She said quietly. She couldn't resist standing up and walking over to him to kiss his forehead. Owen's eyes drifted shut as her lips lingered and he breathed in her familiar and unforgettable scent. All he wanted to do was reach out and pull her onto his lap and kiss her fiercely. His hands curled into fists as he tried to keep himself under control. It took all her strength to pull away and she looked down at him. "Thank you."

He watched her walk out and touched the spot she'd kissed.

"I deserve a medal." He sighed. "Giving up the best sex I've ever had and keeping myself in control."

A few nights later, Owen was in his flat and about to put his head down for the night when someone knocked on his door. He sighed as he went to open it, praying it wasn't another psycho girl he'd screwed over in the past. So many had turned up in the past couple of weeks, demanding to know why he hadn't called them. How they got his address he didn't know. He was always so careful, making them take him back to theirs so he could just sneak out while they were asleep, not giving his number and he hadn't put himself in the phone book – that would have been suicidal.

When he opened it and came face to face with Gwen, he was surprised.

"Hi." She smiled.

"Gwen, hi. Well...come in." He said and let her into his flat. "What brings you here?"

"I just...wanted to talk." She shrugged. "You know, just...have a chat."

"At this time of night?" He laughed. Gwen looked away uncomfortably and shifted on the spot. He moved to stand in front of her and her eyes widened as she looked back up at him. "You didn't come just to talk did you?"

"Honestly...no." She answered, her voice shaking as he stepped even closer.

He held her face in one hand and rested the other on her hip.

"What about Rhys?" He asked.

"I don't want to think about that at the minute. I'll deal with that after." She told him. "I need this. I can't stop thinking about everything that happened in that cave and my head spins just -"

He cut her off by crushing his lips onto hers. Her arms went around his neck almost strangling him as he led her towards his room.

**A/N:** I really hope I haven't disappointed. Think I'm going to do a Glee fic next just to take a break from Torchwood.


End file.
